Ability diverse children in Picture Books

Author: Peter Carnavas Illustrator: Peter Carnavas Publisher:   London: New Frontier Publishing, 2017 Award: Children's Book Council of Australia: Notable Australian Children's Books: Early Childhood Simple yet significant, Jessica's Box is a touching story about friendship and belonging. Struggling to make friends at her new school, Jessica, an ability-diverse character, brings to school a cardboard box of special things to initiate conversation and impress other children. For the first three days, nothing works, but on the fourth day when feeling rejected and discouraged, Jessica leaves for the school with the box on her head, she can surprisingly make friend with a boy and realizes that just being herself is sufficient those who would appreciate her would be impressed just by who she is. In the original iteration in 2008, awarded by Children's Book Council of Australia, the young protagonist is not portrayed with disability, but in the new version, Jessica uses a whe...

Author:  Phil Cummings Illustrator:  Shane Devries Publisher:  Lindfield, N.S.W.: Scholastic Australia 2017 Written from the cultural view of disability, Boy celebrates deafness as a visual way of being. It relates the story of a loud and mighty, ongoing battle between a king and a dragon that was incited childishly by dragons burning the forests on the king’s territories with an accidental sneeze. The constant presence of pink and purple-hued skies in illustrations signify the endlessness of a situation in which neither side lose nor advance until a tiny determined deaf boy enters the scene, uses a simultaneous combination of sign language and sand-drawing to resolve the conflict between the two ‘hearing’ sides of the battle. The issue- oriented story-line employed in the picture book does not impede with Cummings’ masterful characterization of his tiny protagonist within the limited scope of a children book. The boy, though not given a proper name is effectively charact...

Author:  Nette Hilton Illustrator:  Vincent Agostino Publisher:  Melbourne, Vic.: Lothian Children's Books 2009 In contrast to typical disability literature that usually depicts characters with excessive desire to belong, My Silent World centralizes a deaf child who celebrates her silent world and identifies her cochlear implant as a monster that is threatening in its tendency to admit disturbing and distressing intruder sounds. More to highlight he deaf child’s agency, the narration is in first-person, and everything is presented from her point of view. So, the readers are presented with a stream of consciousness narrative told by a central deaf child, align with her, and relate to her joyful rendition of a visual silent world. Illustrations also centralize the protagonist and serve to give visual emphasis to the same significance conveyed by the verbal text. The use of bright colors, bold shapes and strong outlines mixed with a veritable whirlwind of sights helps ...

  Author:  Stephen Michael King Illustrator:  Stephen Michael king Publisher:  Gosford, Australia: Scholastic Australia, 2019 Award :CBCA Book of the Year Shortlist Written in quiet yet moving tone, Three features’ themes such as toleration, gratitude, and acceptance. The book relates the story of Three, a three-legged homeless small stray dog with a cheerful positive disposition whose days are are just a `skip and a hop', wandering around the city to find warmth and food. With occasional intention of finding a home or a family, every day, three starts a new journey’ from here to there, or 'wherever his nose led’, discovers new creatures and categorize them in terms of configurations of their legs which itself makes the book filled with gentle humor and fun to read. Filled with relaxed washes of color, loose-sketch–style illustrations, abundant with city stores, sidewalk scenes, and map-like streets. The dotted line through the pages itself, implies a shift in circum...

  Author:  Jen Malia Illustrator:  Joanne Lew-Vriethoff  Publisher:  Chicago, Illinois: Albert Whitman & Co. 2020      Too Sticky reads an insightful narrative to raise the readers' awareness about Autism Spectrum Disorder and its consequent implications. The picture book relates the story of a different little girl, Holly, with a great dislike of sticky things who is very anxious to go to school on a day students will be making slime for science class.  More significant to centralizing an autistic protagonist and her sensory frustrations is the way other characters are portrayed purely nonjudgmental and able to  create a supportive environment to the child,  helping her successfully navigates the experiment.   Cartoony yet lively illustrations by Lew-Vriethoff's well highlight the inner feeling of the characters and complement author’s simple storytelling and its promising upbeat tone. These own-voices picture book gi...

  Author:  Christobel Mattingley  Illustrator:  Anne Spudvilas  Publisher:  New York: Scholastic 1996 Awards: Crichton Award for New Illustrators CBCA Honour Book The Race depicts an Australian schoolboy’s desperate struggle at establishing a sense of belonging, a common theme, shared in a wide range of children’s literary texts, specifically in literature representing disability. Even though he is a highly motivated and engaged student, Greg’s hearing problem impedes his ability to effectively participate in school activities and casts him in the role of an outsider, as he is labelled as a daydreamer who does not pay attention. The significance of the story is while traditionally, a belonging-type script in children’s literature requires the central characters to resolve conflict on their own terms and focus on the central characters’ journey toward self-discovery, in Mattingly’s story, it is up toa new teacher to enter the scene, identify Greg’s problem a...

Author:  Glenda Millard Illustrator:  Annie White Publisher:  Lindfield, N.S.W.: Scholastic 2009 Awards:  CBCA Notable Books - Picture CBCA Notable Books - Younger A quite yet detailed story with lots of text, Mbobo Tree tackles the core themes of acceptance, belonging, caring, and integration. Set in an African village, this Fable-like narration represents an all-inclusive harmonious world in which villagers, wild and domestic creature live in harmony with the only outstanding mbobo tree, that belongs to no-one and to everyone’.Oil painted illustrations are a colourful delight that illustrate this sunny setting in its prime.  Central to the story is Tiranambo Adesimbo Mbobo, an ability-divers mute girl, who has been found as a baby, swinging in the branches of the tree. Just like the tree, she also belongs to no-one and everyone. The villagers find her, name her, and love her as if she were their own daughter. Belonging to all the village, this magical and myst...

Author:  Holly Robinson Peete, Rodney Peete Illustrator:  Shane Evans Publisher:  New York: Scholastic Press 2010 Awards:  Comstock Read Aloud Book Award Nominee (2011),  Dolly Gray Children's Literature Award (2012) Based on a true experience with an autistic family member, 10-year-old son, Holly Robinson Peete, the American national autism spokesperson collaborates with her daughter, by then-twelve-year-old Ryan Elizabeth, to author My Brother Charlie. The picture book is an honest true-to-life introduction to autism and its day-to-day challenges. The first-person narration makes it possible for the readers to see through the eyes of the young Callie who describes what autism is and explores the inevitable problems that come along with it. Mostly, the book relates how much the Callie’s autistic brother is adored by her and other family members, but unlike some examples in contemporary disability literature, this title will not give an idyllically joyous repres...

  Author:  Leila Rudge   Illustrator:  Leila Rudge  Publisher:  Moss Vale, NSW: Walker Books Australia Pt, 2017 This story relates the ironic situation in which the central character, Gary, is a racing pigeon who cannot fly. In many other respects, Gary is the same as other pigeons in the flock. He pecks at seeds, sleeps, and dreams of faraway places, except for on racing days when his disability to fly fails him and he is left behind at their loft. At its best, he can just record the adventures of his lucky fellows in his scrapbook.  Surprisingly, a plot this tragic and this predictable as it seems, undergoes a twist and the flightless pigeon protagonist succeeds to go for his own adventurous flight. One evening, the bird clumsily falls into the racers’ travel basket and the next morning, he awakens and finds himself having been taken to a race far from home. Now it is all he has done so far, his records in scrapbook, with its maps and travel not...

  Author:  Craig Silvey Illustrator:  Sonia Martínez Rosero Publisher:  North Fremantle, W.A. : Fremantle Arts Centre Press, 2007 The World According to Warren is a children’s picture book that features, a guide dog and looks though the world from his perspective. Warren, the guide dog, formerly introduced to Craig Silve’s readers in Rhubarb, the Best Young Australian Novelist Award winner, now is re-portrayed to foster our awareness about the life of visually impaired people.  Warren is a little cute pup that is always getting into trouble, but when He meets Eleanor Rigby and is assigned as a guide dog to her, little pup learns to avoid distractions and stay fully focused on his responsibilities and the story turns to be a celebration of their mutual friendship. Warren has now found his calling in life, becomes fiercely protective of Eleanor in the dark streets of the crowded city among the shadowy people he sees all around him.  With simple and practical...