Board Books
Tessa Strickland; Estelí Meza (illus) Yoga Tots: Brave Bear Barefoot Books, 7th February, £5.99, bb, 9781646864911 Brave Bear helps guide children through a series of grounding yoga poses, as they pretend to be a bear too. Simple, descriptive language and fun illustrations encourage movement for everyone. The ensemble cast includes children with visible disabilities, and the cover shows a child with a prosthetic arm.
Tessa Strickland; Estelí Meza (illus) Yoga Tots: Happy Tiger Barefoot Books, 7th February, £5.99, bb, 9781646864928 Happy Tiger helps children to move like a big cat, flicking their tails, and stretching gently and playfully. The poses chosen are intended to encourage feelings of happiness. Like Brave Bear, the illustrations include children with visible disabilities among its diverse cast.
Picture Books
Laura Henry-Allain; Onyinye Iwu (illus) I Can, You Can Ladybird, 14th October, £9.99, hb, 9780241512739 A sequel to My Skin, Your Skin, this is aimed at boosting body positivity and giving positive representation to disabled children, as well as promoting empathy and understanding of difference. Henry-Allain is the creator of CBeebies’ “JoJo and GranGran”, the first animation centred on a Black British family.
a powerchair, showing how need for aids varies on different days and depending on activity.
Kate Hoefler; Jessica Bagley (illus) Courage Hats Chronicle, 5th April, £12.99, hb, 9781797202761 It’s best to have courage in your heart, but if you don’t, you can always try wearing it on your head. A heartwarming, beautifully illustrated tale about a girl, Mae, and a bear, Bear, who take a train ride together and find courage at the end of it.
Zach Manbeck You Are Here Chronicle, 26th April, £12.99, hb, 9781797210100 You know you are here, but how do you get to where you want and need to be? And how do you know it’s the right place to go to? Luscious, stylised illustrations which include a wheel- chair user among a diverse cast.
Rebecca Patterson Four Bad Unicorns Andersen Press, 5th May, £12.99, hb, 9781839131035 Wheelchair user Connie loves unicorns more than anything, and when she and her big sister play, it is as unicorn farmers. But when their neighbours spoil the game, they have to become bad unicorns to put it right. Informed by Patterson’s experience of growing up with a disabled sister.
Learn With Ladybird: First Words Ladybird, 31st March, £4.99, pb, 9780241515594 Part of a new 14-book series. Zara penguin, who has cerebral palsy, joins the animals in the Ladybird Class, as does autistic panda Noah. Zara wears ankle-foot orthosis and uses mobility aids including crutches and
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Rachell Abalos; Gabriela Larios (illus) Our Nipa Hut: A Story in the Philippines Barefoot Books, Spring 2022, £7.99, pb, 9781646865017 Yelena and Papa care for their nipa hut, and it cares for them and shelters them as one of the family, but can they all stay safe in the typhoon? Filipino American author Abalos’ landscapes and people are brought to life beauti- fully and characterfully by Larios, including Papa’s prosthetic leg.
Molly Potter; Sarah Jennings (illus) The Same but Different Featherstone, 14th October, £10.99, hb, 9781472978028 Featuring an ensemble cast of visibly diverse
children, this colourful book explores ideas of difference and shared experiences, reflecting on how everyone is different but can find common ground and common feeling. A good starting point for conversations about inclusion.
to walk again—and it was Sticky McStickstick who helped him on the way. A love letter to mobility aids, and an important perspective on the Covid- 19 pandemic, with fun, distinctive illustrations.
Tracey Turner; Asa Gilland (illus) We Are All Different Macmillan Children’s, 14th October, £12.99, hb, 9780753446294 Gorgeously quirky illustrations bring to life the diverse school at the centre of this exploration of inclusivity, which includes discussion of autism, physical and learning disabilities, blindness and deafness, as well as ethnic and cultural differences, and unique personalities, concluding “there are billions of wonderful ways to be human”.
Jordan Scott; Sydney Smith (illus) I Talk Like a River Walker Books, 6th January, £7.99, pb, 9781529502817 A boy struggles to speak, but finds solace in the river, who talks just like him: churning, whirling, crashing, stuttering. This book draws on the poet-author’s own experience of stuttering, to present a story of gentle understanding and quiet togetherness instead of overcoming. With stunning illustrations.
Raymond Antrobus; Polly Dunbar (illus) Can Bears Ski? Walker Books, 3rd February, £7.99, pb, 9781406394627 Boy Bear can’t understand why people keep asking him: “Can bears ski?” But when his dad takes him to an audiologist, he gets hearing aids, and realises they were asking: “Can you hear me?” Prize- winning poet Antrobus and illustrator Dunbar are both deaf. This is Antrobus’ first picture book.
Sofia Sanchez & Margaret O’Hair; Sofia Cardoso (illus) You Are Enough: A Book About Inclusion Scholastic, 6th January, £12.99, hb, 9781338630749 Written by 12-year-old model, actress and advocate Sofia Sanchez, who has Down’s Syndrome, this is a book about embracing what makes you different and unique. Her message is simple: we all belong. Featuring a diverse ensemble cast, and information about Down’s Syndrome.
Michael Rosen; Tony Ross (illus) Sticky McStickstick: The Friend Who Helped Me Walk Again Walker Books, 4th November, £12.99, hb, 9781529502404 When much-loved poet and writer Rosen was recovering from Covid-19 in 2020, he had to learn
Shannon Stocker; Devon Holzwarth (illus) Listen: How Evelyn Glennie, a Deaf Girl, Changed Percussion Puffin, 14th April, £7.99, hb, 9780241547694 Listen follows Evelyn Glennie’s story from childhood hearing loss, showing how she learned to listen in different ways, to not only continue playing music, but excel in her field. Includes a note from Glennie and colourful, expressive illustrations. Stocker is a hearing writer, who has been a wheelchair user.
Abigail Rayner; Ruttan Molly (illus) Violet and the Crumbs: A Gluten-Free Adventure NorthSouth, 19th April, £13.99, hb, 9780735844858 Going to parties has been a bit hard for Violet since she was diagnosed with coeliac disease. She can’t share pizza or cake or anything delicious. It’s lonely not being able to
eat with others. Gently informing about coeliac disease, and offering a happy solution, Violet gets a gluten-free party!
Middle-grade
lip-read between endless hospital appointments, and it seems impossible to compete in the Battle of the Bands as she had hoped. Then she realises she can still feel noise, and an old set of drums become her passage back onto the stage.
Chrissie Sains; Jenny Taylor (illus) The Treasure Under the Jam Factory Walker Books, 7th April, £6.99, pb, 9781406396140 A fun adventure aimed at readers aged six and over, with charming illustra- tions. Budding inventor Scooter, who has cerebral palsy, his friend Cat and Fizzbee the alien, hunt for treasure under McLay’s Jam Factory, battling new nemeses in this follow-up to An Alien in the Jam Factory.
Lisette Auton The Secret of Haven Point Puffin, 3rd February, £7.99, pb, 9780241522035 As a baby, Alpha washed up below the lighthouse at remote Haven Point, becoming the first of many foundlings who would make their home there, among mermaids and magic. Featuring a diverse disabled cast, this is the first book from activist, poet and novelist Auton, who is disabled herself.
Rosie Jones; Natalie Smillie (illus) The Amazing Edie Eckhart II: The Big Trip Hachette Children’s, 4th August, £6.99, pb, 9781444958379 Everything is going well for Edie at secondary school, until her class organises a totally inaccessible camping trip. Written by comedian Rosie Jones, drawing on her own experiences of growing up with cerebral palsy, this is the second in what looks to be a fantastic series.
Stewart Foster Can You Feel the Noise? Simon & Schuster, 7th July, £7.99, pb, 9781471191275 When Sophie wakes up one morning suddenly deaf, her life changes completely. She tries to
Emily Kenny The Extraordinary Adventures of Alice Tonks Oneworld, 26th May, £6.99, pb, 9780861542055 Alice Tonks can talk to animals. It’s much harder trying to talk to her classmates in her new boarding school, but when animals start going missing, she needs human and animal help. A tale of friendship with an autistic protagonist, by an autistic author, this promises to be a great new series.
Ali Stroker & Stacy Davidowitz The Chance to Fly Abrams, out now, hb, £11.99, 9781419743931 Thirteen-year-old Nat Beacon dreams of being in musicals. But is there a place for a girl like her, a wheelchair user, on stage? When she is cast in a production of “Wicked”, she knows she has to “defy gravity”. Co-written by Ali Stroker, the first wheelchair user on Broadway.
Dominique Valente; Sarah Warburton (illus) Starfell: Willow Moss and the Vanished Kingdom Harper Children’s, 3rd February, £7.99, pb, 9780008308483 Things are changing for Willow Moss. Magical children are allowed to go to school with their non-magical peers for the first time, but something is wrong. Willow must protect the children of Starfell. The third book in this magical series from Valente, who was born with a limb difference.
Adam Hills; Luna Valentine (illus) Rockstar Detectives Puffin, 3rd February, £6.99, pb, 9780241505977
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