Autism Books as a Set

Reflecting on the three books I chose, I think they bring up different issues and situations of children with autism. I found it interesting, however, Looking after Louis and Andy and His Yellow Frisbee had notes about autism in the back of the book, and Ian's Walk: A Story about Autism had a reference note at the very beginning of the book. The notes in the back for Looking after Louis mentioned mainstreaming children with disabilities into the classroom, and Andy and His Yellow Frisbee discussed the symptoms of autism and Ian's Walk discussed the the importance that families play (particularly siblings) and the challenges that family members face. Both Looking after Louis and Ian's Walk had professionals write about the note on autism, whereas in Andy and His Yellow Frisbee it was written by the author.

While searching for books on autism, it was difficult to find many picture books on this topic. There were several novels written for adolescents, yet when looking for picture books at the library, there wasn't much of a selection. I understand that this is a difficult topic to discuss and explain, yet with these three books together, I feel it will help students grasp the understanding better and get an accurate representation of autism. Even though Looking after Louis isn't as highly recommended by me as the other two, it still can add to the classroom library and help children understand about acceptance. The teacher will just have to be careful as to how they use and read that book.

I also noticed that within all three books, the person who was autistic was a boy and drawn as if they were "normal." It's good that they were all drawn similar to other children because they don't have physical characteristics that make them autistic. It's also interesting that these characters were all boys, yet it could be because autism is found more with boys than girls.

Overall, I would recommend this text set because it brings up various topics and from different perspectives of people. Although not included in the text set, I also highly recommend the book, Souls: Beneath and Beyond Autism by, Sharon Rosenbloom. It gives a beautiful and powerful insight into the lives of those who are related or have interacted with children with autism. It's mainly from a parent's perspective, yet adds to having another view point on the topic, in which other adults and parents can relate to.

Here's the website to view Dolly Gray Awards given to different books about children's literature in developmental disabilities:

http://www.dddcec.org/secondarypages/dollygray/Dolly_Gray_Children

Book Review on "Andy and His Yellow Frisbee"

Thompson, Mary. Andy and His Yellow Frisbee. Bethesda: Woodbine House, 1996.

This book is about a boy with autism, Andy. A new girl at school, Sarah, is very interested in Andy and how he spins his yellow Frisbee "around and around and around" and seems to be in "his own world" (Thompson). When she tries to confront him, Andy's protective sister, Rosie, becomes worried that Andy will be upset with Sarah trying to interact with him. It turns out that Sarah brings her own Frisbee to let Andy spin. Although he doesn't spin it, Rosie is surprised that he allowed Sarah to be so close to him.

In this book, it was helpful that Thompson mentioned near the beginning of the book that Andy has autism. It allows children who read this book to see how some children with autism can act, and that some of these children repeat actions over and over again (such as spinning a Frisbee). What I appreciated about this book was that it gave an insight into Andy's world and why he may act to specific things and people. It also showed Andy having the capability of having different emotions. Although not all children with autism can express their feelings verbally, Andy can express them through actions, such as screaming when upset or uncomfortable.

Thompson was the author and illustrator for this book. The illustrations show that Andy doesn't look any different from other children, and it even says that in the story. The pictures do a good job of showing the emotions of others, as well as how Andy really does seem to be "in his own world" and not interacting with anyone. The story definitely focuses on Andy and how it shows he's autistic. There's an end note at the back of the book describing what autism is and some symptoms of it. It's also mentioned how Thompson has four children and one who has disabilities, yet it doesn't specify if her child is autistic. Overall, I would recommend this book for a classroom because it allows students to better understand what this disability is and how they may act within certain situations. It also allows the students to see how they can also try and interact with them by being very patient, like how Sarah was with Andy. Lastly, it allows students to see how a sibling may feel and what they may do when having a younger or older brother/sister who's autistic.