Our Favorite Books that Celebrate Disability Pride

July is disability pride month. It was started to celebrate disabilities as an identity and to bring awareness to why we need to continue to work toward making our world more inclusive and accessible for all people.

We all have a tremendous amount of work to do when it comes to being more inclusive. As a company who often showcases diverse books and discusses social justice issues, we know that this is an area that we have to work on, and we will continue to do so.

Emmanuel’s Dream: The True Story of Emannuel Ofosu Yeboah is a REMARKABLE story of Emmanuel, a young boy who set out on a mission to prove he could achieve his dreams. Most people dismissed his dream of cycling, but not his mother. He taught him to be proud of who he was. He went on to ride over 400 miles across Ghana and continues to be an advocate for disabled people.

You are Enough is the story of Sofia, an 11-year-old actress and model with Downs Syndrome. Sofia is confident and proud of who she is. Her story paints the picture that you are enough just the way you are and the all differences deserve to be celebrated.

Just Ask is a powerful story that encourages others to simply ask about people who are different for them. When we ask questions out of love, we can all grow to recognize and appreciate the differences we all have that make us unique.

The Girl who Thought in Pictures: The Story of Dr. Temple Grandin is a celebratory book about Dr. Grandin’s accomplishments to the world of science. As a child when Temple was diagnosed with autism, doctors were unsure if she would speak, let alone become a world famous scientist. This book is another beautiful story of perseverance and understanding.

The illustrations in the book We Move Together vibrantly paint a picture of what it looks like to work together as a community. This is the perfect book to focus on breaking disability and social justice barriers with children.

All the Way to the Top is the courageous story of Jennifer Keelan, a little girl who crawled her way to the Capitol building in Washington, DC to ensure that the then The Americans with Disabilities Act was passed. Even as a child, she pushed for great change that would ensure that public spaces would become more accessible to people with disabilities.

Recess Magic is a beautiful story that discusses the importance of love and kindness regardless of how we look or move. We are very excited to showcase the phenomenal author, Bonny Spence Dieterich in an upcoming Take a Look Behind the Book!

Erin, Roderick, and The Diffability Bunch Each child - and adult for that matter- has a plethora of talents and Abilities and some also have Disabilities. So i have come up with 'Diffabilities' so that children can see that difference is something to be celebrated and not feared.” This quote from the author, Fliss Goldsmith perfectly depicts her amazing book. Fliss will also be a featured Take a Look Behind the Book author this month!

 

As we always say, every child deserves to feel loved, valued, and seen in the books that they read. We feel that these stories do just that! What are some of your favorite titles for Disability Pride month?