Disability Related Children’s Book Round Up

If you want to teach your children about disability, my #1 tip is to bring disability representation into your home. And since we don’t have as much control over the TV shows and commercials that are made, books the VERY BEST WAY to do this! They are relatively low cost, something your children can return to time and time again, and often such a great way to spark good conversation.

I am so proud of my books When Charley Met Emma and Awesomely Emma . When Charley Met Emma is a great primer for young children to introduce them to disability, as well as help them learn some basic manners when it comes to interacting with and becoming friends with their disabled peers. Awesomely Emma takes the education even further with themes around accessability, advocacy and boundries. I put them out in the world because I really do believe in them and the positive effects they have had with your children are real–you can read some of the responses I’ve received here. Representation matters!

With that said, I would urge you not to let my books be the only books that bring disability representation to your home, schools and communities. Disability encompasess a vast portion of the human experience (about 1 billion people!) and I think it’s important to share the variance of disability within the disability community as well–physical, intellectual, behavioral, and medical disabilies means there is such a wide range of disability to be taught and discussed.

I’m often asked about recommendations for other children’s books that incorporate disability representation and while a quick Google search with bring up many, many lists–and you should be sure to check them out as well–this list that I’m going to share with you below is a smaller, more refined one that compromises books that we have read and we can vouch for personally. Here is my recommended list of books that center disability.

Note: Instead of providing an Amazon link, the links provided below are through IndieBound.com where you can purchase these books from your local booksellers who really need your support right now. (The only exceptions are the books that can only be purchased directly from the authors/creators website.) 

Hiya Moriah by Victoria Nelson
Victoria and I discovered each other when our first children’s books came out a week apart in 2019. We immediately bonded and supported each other over social media as first time author’s and mother’s of disabled daughters who felt inspired to bring more representation into the world–although sadly, Victoria’s daughter, Moriah, passed away in 2014. Hiya Moriah is a beautiful love letter to her daughter’s legacy and helps children–especially those born with CHARGE syndrome–be seen in the world around them. Hiya Moriah is a lovely read about friendship and disability, and I think the diagram at the end detailing all the different medical equipment is especially helpful for children.

I Am Me From A-Z by Victoria Nelson
Victoria’s second book, came out within weeks of my second book as well! Hello small world. And let me tell you, we LOVE this book. Victoria brilliantly features other children and families in the disibility community and shares their stories as well. This is SUCH a brilliant and beautiful book that teaches children about all different kinds of disability. I can’t say enough good things about Moriah and Friends A-z as being such a well rounded, well researched book that is very mindful of inclusion in a myriad of ways. Zuzu has sat with this book often, reading and re-reading pages and learning about the different children who are featured (there are photographs of them in the back) as well as practicing the sign language taught with each letter. This book is packed full of helpful information and beautiful stories, but the fact that my kid reads it again and again is how I really know it’s a hit.

All the Way to the Top: How One Girls Fight For American’s with Disabilies Changed Everything by Annette Bay Pimentel
If you’re not familiar with capitol crawl that helped usher in the signing of the ADA in 1990, this is a great book for your kids to learn about this specific event and to see what activism modeled by a kid! This book is powerful and based on a true life story of Jennifer Kelan-Chaffins who as a young girl with cerebral palsy, climbed to the top of the US capitol building and in the process gained national attention for the Americans with Disabilities Act. This is such a great book that teaches children about activism, perserverance and hope.

I am Not a Label: 34 Artists, Thinkers, and Activists with Disabilities from Past and Present
Lamp LOVES this book and so do I. How wonderful it is for her to learn about successful disabled people who have made differences in the world–and not just differences for disabled people, differences period. This is written by Cerrie Burnell, a woman with a limb difference who I immediately recognoized as having been on a children’s TV in England back with Lamp was a wee baby. (I remember because there was an uproar from parents who were horrified at having a woman with a limb difference on their kids’ tv show because “how do we explain this to our kids?!” Yep–that was less than 10 years ago.) This book is filled with the names of people you’ll recognize like Stephen Hawking and Frida Kahlo as well as names of people you might not have heard about before like Ade Adepitan and Stella Young.

A Kids Book About Disabilities by Kristine Napper
If you haven’t purchased any of the A Kids Book About series yet, you are missing out. One of the ways I judge all these books is how well they are received by my kids–by Lamp who is disabled herself and chimes in about her perspective, but also Zuzu who is more of the target age for picture books. And let me tell you Zuzu LOVES this book (and a Kids Book About Racism) as does Lamp. These books don’t have pictures, but they employ good design and typeface to really share important messages in n easy-for-kids-to-grasp sort of way. I can’t recommend these books–and especially this one–enough.

The Boy with Big, Big Feelings by Britney Winn Lee
Technically this book is not specifically about disability, as a lot of kids (and adults) deal with big, big feelings and don’t always know what to do with them. But like all these books on this list, they help kids either learn about their own bodies, abilties and emotions or they help them understand people who have bodies, abilities and emotions different from their own. In this case, it works either way. Here’s a personal anecdote to illustrate how helpful books can be for children, and in particular this book: Once Zuzu was having some BIG FEELINGS and I didn’t know what to do or how to help her manage them. Without thinking too much about it I grabbed this book and went to her room–where she was expressing her big feelings–and simply walked in and sat down with the book. She immediately recognized the book, came and sat on my lap as I read the book outloud. She felt seen and heard as we read through the book and discussed BIG FEELINGS. Her feelings were acknowledged and validated through this book and really I think that’s all she needed. We both felt better after that.

   The Girl Who Thought In Pictures: The Story of Dr. Temple Grandin
OK, so this is the lone exception to the rule of only featuring books we have and have read. We don’t own this book and I haven’t read it, but I have seen it on so many lists and knowing Dr. Grandin’s story fairly well, I feel confident that this book would be a great addition to your library. What I love about Dr. Grandin’s message in particular–reitterated in her highly viewed Ted Talk–is that we NEED the variety that disability brings to the world. She didn’t succeed in spite of her Autistic brain, she succeeded BECAUSE of her Autistic brain. We need to realize the power that comes from navigating life in a disabled body and how that experience and knowledge is an asset to our world, not a hinderance.

Emmanuel’s Dream: The True Story of Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah by Laurie Ann Thompson
This is a beautiful book that tells the story of a Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah a boy born in Ghana, West Africa and highlights many of the obstacles he faced growing up. While I think it’s important to be wary of “inspiration porn” and not paint all disabled people as heros for “overcoming their disability” it is also important to recognize that the lives of disabled people can be inspiring. Additionally it’s important to be mindful of books that showcase intersectionality, in this case rase and disability. If it’s hard for disabled kiddos to see themselves represented in the media, it’s that much harder for Black disabled kiddos to see themselves represented.

Eli Included By Michelle Sullivan
Michelle is the mother of a little boy named Eli who has Down syndrome. In addition to her shop, Littlest Warrior, that sells inclusive t-shirts, Michelle wrote this sweet book about Eli and his first day at school. This is a great book to give children a simple understanding of Down syndrome, why it happens and what it might look like for a child who has Down syndrome. Like other books on this list, Eli Included models inclusiveness both in Eli’s school and in friendship.

No Such Thing as Normal by Megan DeJarnet
Megan is the only author on this list who is both a disabled woman herself and the mother of a child who is disabled and therefor she has a unique perspective in understanding disability from a mulifcated point of view. Her book is a great reminder that in so many ways, no matter how you try to categorize people, there really is no such thing as normal. You can also check out her company website as Megan also has a line of stickers, earrings and t-shirts.

Of course, I will always recommend and stand by my own children’s books When Charley Met Emma and Awesomely Emma.

When Charley Met Emma is a fantastic primer to introduce children to the idea of disability (Yes, kids don’t know that disability exists unless we tell them!) specifically limb differences, and the book models some what-to-do and what-not-to-do behaviors. Additionally, the mantra of the book has been so helpful for so many children, “Different isn’t weird, sad, bad or strage. Different is different and different is OK!” Awesomely Emma continues the friendship of Emma, Charley and more friends while also taking a deeper dive into themes of accessibility, equity, and advocacy but in a kid-friendly way. The illustrations by the lovely Merrilee Liddiard (who of course illustrated both books) are equally as inspiring and whimsical.

What is your favorite book that centers disability? Anything else you’d like to add?