"These powerful heart-rending stories are filled with honesty, humor, and hope and offer inspiration to parents, teachers, and anyone else who cares for children with special needs." -- Gerald G. Jampolsky, M.D.
Gathered near a campfire under a canopy of stars, a Navaho Indian boy hears the tale of his birth from his grandfather. Named Boy-Strength-of-Blue-Horses, the child learns to use his strength to deal with the fact that he is blind. Every time the boy hears his grandfather retell the story he makes a knot on the counting rope. Pretty soon he will be able to tell the story from memory, no longer needing the assistance of his grandfather. It is a tale of intergenerational love and respect, that can bring a family closer. Recommended for read aloud.
Leo the tiger cub isn’t reading, or writing, or drawing, or even speaking, and his father is concerned that something is wrong with his son. But Leo’s mother isn’t. She knows her son will do all those things, and more, when he’s ready. The book is an easy read and can be used to help reassure children who find themselves behind developmentally compared to their same-age peers. It also touches upon family acceptance and support. Every child wants and needs encouragement from their parents and this story conveys the message to both children and parents that it is "okay" to be different.
The Autism Acceptance Book is an interactive, educational, and character-building book that introduces children to the challenges faced by people with autism while also supporting their personal journey toward appreciating and respecting people's differences. This book offers educational information, conversation-starters, and engaging exercises that invite children to "walk in someone else's shoes" as they learn to treat others the same ways they would like to be treated themselves.
Children with autism struggle to make friends and navigate social situations. However, one child can make a significant difference in the life of a child with autism by offering compassion, understanding and friendship. This book is about two boys. One has autism, the other does not. The story of their relationship provides practical examples of how to make such a friendship work. It will help children see that their peers with autism can make a fun, genuine contribution to friendship.
A nonfiction photo-essay about a guide horse. Only a few such horses have been trained and are working. The book describes how Panda was first trained and now helps her owner. The oversize book features many glossy, well-structured photographs that bring children right into the life of a blind woman, Ann Edie, and it explains the many ways that Panda helps Ann--crossing streets, going shopping, riding on trains. The book moves back in time, chronicling Panda's training. Ann and her friend Alex, a horse trainer, heard about the first minihorse trained as a guide; since Ann's longtime guide dog had recently died, the women decided to see if they could train a guide horse, whose life span would be years longer than a dog's. The heartwarming, informative book shows the happy results. Several Web sites and a short bibliography are appended.
Milo is upset. At playtime, he wants to be a pirate captain, but the other children say he's too short, he must be a deck hand. He's too small to be a lion, and not handsome enough to be the prince. But Milo's mum helps him to realize that the other roles can be even more fun. After all, knights get to fight dragons, and monkeys have far more fun than lions, swinging through the trees! Winner of the Little Tiger Press New Author Prize 2003, this is an empowering story of how, with imagination and his mum's help, one boy turns rejection into triumph. Recommended to build self-confidence among students who tend to be outcasts with their peers.
A young girl realizes how much she cares for her autistic brother Ian when he gets lost at the park. Julie describes how Ian acts differently from most people yet her close observations of her brother serve her well when Ian wanders away. By thinking of what Ian likes to do, Julie finds her brother and ushers him home again. Through its simple plot, the story conveys a complex family relationship and demonstrates the ambivalent emotions Julie feels about her autistic brother. This natural mix of resentment, anger, isolation, loyalty, and love is explained in preliminary notes written by professional pediatric caregivers.
In Sarah's eyes, her older sister is very brave. Becky is not afraid of the new school or of the barking dog that they meet on the way. She's not even afraid of the convulsive epileptic seizures that she sometimes has. But after a seizure at home, she confides to Sarah that, although the teacher and the nurse know about her condition, she has not told her new classmates and she worries that she will have a seizure in school. One day her fears are realized, and her classmates stare and some laugh. The next day, Becky refuses to go back to school and Sarah has to conquer her own trepidation, walking there alone and going into her sister's classroom to explain what happened. The text reads easily with just enough information about epilepsy to help readers understand Becky's feelings. The soft pastel drawings emphasize the loving relationship between the girls. Epilepsy is tough on children and their families, and this story will help to explain the misconceptions.
Norma Jean, the kangaroo loves to jump. The problem is that her jumping gets out of hand, causing accidents and some hurt feelings among her friends, and Norma stops her jumping entirely. But when the school's field-day games come up, Norma Jean is talked back into action for her team to win. Unfortunately the book tends to focus solely on her jumping around, instead of her as a person, or should I say kangaroo. The title itself defines Norma by her disability. I would caution using this book as it implies a more negative perspective than a positive one.
