International Day of People with Disability (IDPwD) is held on 3rd December each year. The UN give it a theme, which this year is ‘Leadership and participation of persons with disabilities toward an inclusive, accessible and sustainable post-COVID-19 world’.
School with students has finished for me this year, but this is a day well worth sharing with classes and picture books. Many disabilities have a day of their own, but here is a smattering of books worthy of a display in your school library. I have listed books that are in my library, but you will find others, I'm sure.
Books with a focus on children who have mobility difficulties or wheelchairs.
• What Happened to You? by James Catchpole & Karen George
• Susan Laughs by Jeanne Willis & Tony Ross
• I Will Dance by Nancy Bo Flood & Julianna Swaney
• Woodpecker Girl by I-Tsun Chiang & Chingyen Liu
• King For a Day by Rukhsana Khan & Christiane Kroemer
• Seal Surfer by Michael Foreman
• Arabella by Wendy Orr & Kim Gamble (OOP but probably in the school library)
• All the Way to the Top by Annette Bay Pimental & Nabi H. Ali (a biographical episode from the life of Jennifer Keelan)
Books with a focus on children who are dealing with sight issues
• The Patch by Justina Chen Headley & Mitch Vane
• Lucy's Picture by Nicola Moon & Alex Ayliffe (OOP Lucy's grandfather is blind)
• The Black Book of Colours by Menena Cottin & Rosana Faria
• Six Dots: A Story of a Young Louis Braille by Jen Bryant & Boris Kulikov
• Helen's Big World by Doreen Rappaport & Matt Tavares
• Yuko-Chan and the Daruma Doll by Sunny Seki
• Looking Out for Sarah by Glenna Lang
Books with a focus on children dealing with deafness
• Can Bears Ski? by Raymond Antrobus & Polly Dunbar
• Freddie and the Fairy by Julia Donaldson & Karen George
• Hands and Hearts by Donna Jo Napoli & Amy Bates
• Moses Goes to a Concert by Isaac Millman
• The Boy in the Jam Jar by Joyce Dunbar & John Shelley
• Boy by Phil Cummings & Shane deVries
• The Race by Christobel Mattingley (OOP but probably in the school library)
Of course there are other disabilities, but this is a good start and enough for a display!
