Children's Resource Update: Books with Disability Representation

Happy Disability Pride Month! Disability pride is recognized in the United States during the month of July in honor of the Americans with Disabilities Act. This landmark piece of legislation was a crucial step towards accessibility and inclusion for many disabled Americans. Disability Pride Month comes on the heels of the much more popular and more readily recognized, LGBTQ+ Pride Month in June. Many people wonder why the disability community uses the word pride rather than awareness, or something similar. While the disabled and queer communities have their own unique struggles, both have come to acknowledge the importance of "pride" in relation to self-worth and self-acceptance. In the case of the disability community, a long history of eugenics, asylums, "ugly" laws, and other abuses have created a need for people in the disability community to both embrace themselves and drive others to accept the value that disabled people possess.

Literature is an important way to instill self-worth in children with disabilities who may struggle to accept their differences and their individual struggles. It's also an a valuable teaching tool when introducing nondisabled children to the diversity they may encounter in the world. The list below includes books for ages 1+ through 6+ with a focus on disability, acceptance, diversity, adaptive equipment, and more. Parenthetical notations for each book mark some of the key themes present in each book.

*Please note that I have not read all of these books. I encourage you to do your own research to find the book/s right for you and your family and to use this resource merely as a guide.

Image Description: A stack of slender children's books with their spines visible sits on a table. The books are vibrant, pastel shades of blue, yellow, red, and orange. On top of the books sits a children's mug with a straw. The mug is slightly out of focus.

Credit: Annie Spratt / Unsplash via Webador

Ages 1+

Super Special Magic Shoes by Megan Higgins (AFOs, braces, mobility aids)
We're Different, We're the Same, and We're Wonderful by Bobbi Kates (diversity, differences)

Ages 2+

Bodies Are Cool by Tyler Feder (disabilities in general)
Finding Your SPOT In The World: A Story About Diversity by Diane Alber (diversity, communication, movement differences, acceptance of others)

Ages 3+

We Move Together by Kelly Fritsch, Anne McGuire, Eduardo Trejos (disability, accessibility, community)
What Happened to You by James Catchpole (limb differences)
You're So Amazing by James Catchpole (limb differences)
This Beach Is Loud! by Samantha Cotterill (autism)
Can I Play Too? by Samantha Cotterill (autism)
Nope. Never. Not for Me! by Samantha Cotterill (autism)
It Was Supposed to Be Sunny by Samantha Cotterill (autism)
Come Over to My House by Eliza Hull, Sally Rippin (deafness and disabilities)
Can Bears Ski? by Raymond Antrobus (deafness)
Logan's Greenhouse by JaNay Brown-Wood (wheelchairs)
You Are Enought: A Book About Inclusion by Margaret O'Hair, Sofia Sanchez (Down syndrome)
Together Things by Michelle Vasiliu, Gwynneth Jones (mental health)
Hello Goodbye Dog by Maria Gianferrari, Patrice Barton (wheelchairs)
Daniel's New Friend by Becky Friedman (AFOs, crutches)
Don't Call Me Special: A First Look at Disability by Pat Thomas (disability, adaptive devices)
Ivy, the Very Determined Dog by Chris & Maureen Harrington (spinal disease, mobility aids)
When Charley Met Emma by Amy Webb (wheelchairs, inclusion)
Who Do You See When You Look at Me? by Angela Ray Rogers (wheelchairs, confidence, self-acceptance)

Ages 4+

Mama Zooms by Jane Cowen-Fletcher (wheelchair user)
Lone Wolf by Sarah Kurpiel (disability, difference, power wheelchairs)
I Talk Like a River by Jorndan Scott (stutter)
I Am a Masterpiece! by Mia Armstrong (Down syndrome)
Brilliant Bea by Shaina Rudolph, Mary Vukadinovich (dyslexia)
My Three Best Friends and Me, Zulay by Cari Best (blindness)
More than Words: So Many Ways to Say What We Mean by Roz MacLean (alternate modes of communication)
Mara Hears in Style by Terri Clemmons (deafness, hard of hearing)
Daisy the Daydreamer by Jennifer P. Goldfinger (ADHD)
All the Way to the Top: How One Girl's Fight for Americans with Disabilities Changed Everything by Annette Bay Pimentel (cerebral palsy, the ADA)
The Girl Who Thought in Pictures: The Story of Dr. Temple Grandin by Julia Finley Mosca (autism)
Dancing with Daddy by Anitra Rowe Schulte (wheelchairs)
Just Ask!: Be Different, Be Brave, Be You by Sonia Sotomayor (disabilities, diabetes, being different)
Moses Goes to a Concert by Isaac Millman (deafness, accessibility, accommodations, inclusion)
My Travelin' Eye by Jenny Sue Kostecki-Shaw (strabismus)
Emmanuel's Dream by Laurie Ann Thompson, Sean Qualls (limb differences)
A Day With No Words by Tiffany Hammond (autism, non-speaking, alternate forms of communication)
All My Stripes: A Story for Children with Autism by Shaina Rudolph (autism)
I Will Dance by Nancy Bo Flood (cerebral palsy, adaptive dance)
Roxy the Raccoon by Alice Reeves (wheelchairs, inclusion)
Yes I can!: A Girl and Her Wheelchair by Kendra J. Barrett (wheelchairs, self-acceptance, confidence)

Ages 5+

I Am Not a Label: 34 Disabiled Artists, Thinkers, Athletes, and Activists from Past and Present by Cerrie Burnell (disabilities, mental illnesses)
Tenacious: Fifteen Adventures Alongside Disabled Athletes by Patty Cisneros Prevo (disabilities, adaptive sports)
Benji, the Bad Day, and Me by Sally J. Pla (autism)
Silent Lotus by Jeanne M. Lee (deafness)
King for a Day by Rukhsana Khan, Christiane Krömer (wheelchairs)
Ben's Adventures: Day at the Beach by Elizabeth Gerlach (wheelchairs)
Katie Can: A Story About Special Needs by Erin Palmer (Down Syndrome)

Ages 6+

Not So Different: What You Really Want to Ask About Having a Disability by Shane Burcaw (spinal muscular atrophy)
Rescue and Jessica: A Life-Changing Friendship (service animals, limb differences)
Thank You, Mr. Falker by Patricia Polacco (dyslexia)
A Walk in the Words by Hudson Talbott (dyslexia)

Sources:

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