New Books Introducing Disability to Young Children

No Fair To Tigers

No Fair to Tigers is advertised as an "Anti-bias Book for Kids". It is distributed by Redleaf Press which has a wonderful collection of such books ranging from preschool age to adolescents. Many of the books are bilingual, and this one is Spanish/English.

In a note to parents, teachers and other caregivers at the end of the book, the author talks about helping children to learn about fairness and justice. And it does. Mandy is a little girl who uses a wheelchair. Her stuffed tiger has an ear that is falling off and she is on a quest to help him. When she shows her dad how dirty he is, the dad volunteers to take him to the laundromat. Mandy exclaims "Put a tiger in a washing machine? Locked up, like a cage? That's no fair to tigers." Then she and her dad wash him gently in the bathroom sink.

Mandy helps her Tiger get sewn back together and cleaned up. But when they go to the pet store for "real" tiger food, Mandy is upset because this time it is no fair to her: there are steps at the entrance of the store. Her family offers to find someone to carry her inside but she exclaims that she definitely does not want to be picked up like some puppy dog! And even though the store keeper comes outside to giver her some crackers for Tiger, she tells him that the tiger is appreciative but....they need a ramp for the store.

The book is wonderful. Mandy's story is developmentally-appropriate for both preschool and early primary children and a good early reader for first and second grade children. The illustrations are excellent; very accurate and sensitive in their portrayal of a girl with a disability being assisted by her mother getting into bed.

The notes at the end of the book suggest various ways to extend the message of anti-bias. These include issues related to caring for toys, animals, children being injured - and disability. The last suggestion states, "While Mandy uses a wheelchair and accessibility is important to her, she is more than a person in a wheelchair. Help children learn more about people in your classroom or community who use wheelchairs or other adaptive equipment. What are their interests? What do they do for work? Who is in their families? How do they take care of others?"

This book gets ten plus stars...

Author: Eric Hoffman
Illustrator: Janice Lee Porter
www.redleafpress.com

Be Quiet Marina

Marina and Moira are both four years old. Each likes to dance, play with dolls, go on a see-saw and dress up. Marina has cerebral palsy and often screams and makes lots of noises. Moira hates noise because it frightens her.

This is a photo-essay book of two real girls who attended the Bank Street Family Center. It tells the story of their friendship, and the many ways they are alike and different. At first it was difficult for them to be friends. Marina was independent while Moira was quiet and stayed close to her teacher. When Marina could not wait her turn, or had to clean up her toys, she often pouted and screamed, driving Moira to cover her ears and leave Marina.

Most likely under the guidance of the Center staff, one day when Marina was getting upset, Moira simply said to her "Please don't scream!" She continued to ask her this as they slowly learned to play together. Marina learned to better control her behavior and Moira learned to not be afraid of and gently confront Marina.

This story could be about any two children. It is a delightful book about similarities, differences and learning new healthy social skills.

The end of the book includes an explanation for older children and adults about cerebral palsy and Down syndrome. It also lists various disability resources in the USA, Canada, the U.K., South Africa and Australia.

Great book.

Author: Kirsten DeBear
Photographer: Laura Dwight
www.starbrightbooks.com

Susan Laughs

Susan Laughs is a book for young children that introduces them to a young girl who uses a wheelchair. On each page of this delightful book, we see Susan with members of her family, pet animals, at school, alone, and with friends. On each page we see a different aspect of this young girl - how she laughs and is sad, is good and is bad, is weak and is strong. On each page we see a fabulous illustration of her flying through the air on her father's arms, swimming with her family, riding a horse and playing simple games.

And only on the last page do we see that Susan is using a wheelchair.

We have seen this "technique" often over the years in disability-awareness campaigns. Most of the time, it works very well. It does here too. And it is the first time I have seen it used for such young children in a book.

Buy it!

Author and Illustrator: Jeanne Willis and Tony Ross
Publisher: Random House (A Red Fox Book)
www.kidsatrandomhouse.co.uk

Taking Cerebral Palsy to School

Out of all of the books reviewed, this one is the most explicit with regard to disability. It is based on a story about a real boy, Chad Madson, and his family. The story is told in the first person: Chad writes about his "CP," and his first lesson to the readers is that "all kids are different - even kids living with CP!"

The book tells in simple language how Chad lives with CP - from the extra time it takes to comb his hair or drink milk from a cup, to physical therapy to swimming.

Chad suggests that readers get a feel for living with CP by putting socks on their hands and then try to button their clothes. I get mixed reviews from my friends with CP on this approach, but the bottom line is that if a disabled person is facilitating this "simulation, it is a thousand times better than a non-disabled person doing it. As Chad points out, kids and people with disability are different, and have different opinions.

We see Chad in an integrated classroom, but working with an assistant. We see him talking with classmates, and sometimes they understand him and other times they don't. But, he wants us all to know that how he speaks in not any indication of his intelligence.

Seizures are explained to readers in a simple way - something that would indeed help children not be so afraid if they do see one. And he mentions that they are not contagious, which I know from years working with children, is a concern they often have.

In the end, Chad says that CP is only a very small part of his life - but as opposed to some of the other books reviewed here - it is the primary focus of the book. I do believe that the book (and those of the series mentioned below) could be useful for children in early primary classes.

Taking Cerebral Palsy to School is part of a Special Kids in School series. This includes everything from Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) to Down Syndrome to Food Allergies. JayJo Books is a Publisher of " Special Books for Special Kids" .

Author: Mary Elizabeth Anderson
Illustrator: Tom Dineen
Publisher: JayJo Books
www.jayjo.com
jayjobooks@guidancechannel.com

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