Children's Book Suggestions | Disability Pride Month Picture Books

A diverse selection of picture books celebrating a variety of disabilities, including neurodivergence.

Looking for more children's books about the disability experience? Try our Disability Pride Month Chapter Books list for readers in Grades 2-7 and the American Library Association's Schneider Family Book Award winners & honor books.

Updated May 17, 2024
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Can bears ski?
Antrobus, Raymond
Paper Book
Is Little Bear ignoring his friends when they say hi, or is something else going on? A discovery opens new doors in a tale that will delight kids with deafness and all children learning to navigate their world. Little Bear feels the world around him. He feels his bed...

A small bear who has trouble hearing the world around him until he visits an audiologist, who fits him with hearing aids. (Picture Book Age 3-7)

What happened to you?
Catchpole, James
Paper Book
The first ever picture book addressing how a disabled child might want to be spoken to. What happened to you? Was it a shark? A burglar? A lion? Did it fall off? Every time Joe goes out the questions are the same . . . what...

An award-winning story from English author James Catchpole, who uses gentle humor to navigate an all-too-common question asked of people with visible disabilities. (Picture Book Age 4-8)

Different : a great thing to be!
Avis, Heather
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER . This joyful rhyming book encourages children to value the "different" in all people, leading the way to a kinder world in which the differences in all of us are celebrated and embraced. Macy is a girl who's a lot like you and me, but she's also...

A young girl with Down syndrome encourages readers to see differences of all kinds as something to be valued and celebrated. (Picture Book Age 3-8)

Sam's super seats
Brown, Keah
Paper Book
A joyful picture book about a disabled girl with cerebral palsy who goes back-to-school shopping with her best friends, from #DisabledandCute creator and The Pretty One author Keah Brown. Sam loves herself, learning, and making her family and friends laugh. She also loves...

An author with cerebral palsy shares an inclusive back-to-school shopping story about the various seats that help a young girl with CP enjoy a day at the mall with her friends. (Picture Book Age 4-8)

Listen : how Evelyn Glennie, a deaf girl, changed percussion
Stocker, Shannon
Paper Book
* Schneider Family Book Award Winner * A gorgeous and empowering picture book biography about Evelyn Glennie, a deaf woman, who became the first full-time solo percussionist in the world. "No. You can't," people said. But Evelyn knew she could. She...

Deaf percussionist Evelyn Glennie used her bare feet to feel the sounds of the orchestra around her and changed the musical world for D/deaf and hard of musicians everywhere. (Children's Nonfiction Age 4-8)

My city speaks
Lebeuf, Darren
Paper Book
A young visually impaired girl and her father spend a day in the city, her city, travelling to the places they go together: the playground, the community garden, the market, an outdoor concert. As they do, the girl describes what she senses in delightfully precise, poetic detail. Her city, she says,...

A girl and her dad set out to spend a day in their city in this sensory exploration of sound, smell, taste, and touch. (Picture Book Age 3-7)

The black book of colors
Cottin, Menena.
Paper Book
A New York Times Book Review choice as one of the 10 Best Illustrated Children's Books of 2008 It is very hard for a sighted person to imagine what it is like to be blind. This groundbreaking, award-winning book endeavors to convey the experience of a person who can only see through his or...
Braille and textured illustrations provide a tactile guide to colors as experienced through touch in an accessible book for both sighted and non-sighted readers. (Picture Book Age 4-8)
A walk in the words
Talbott, Hudson
Paper Book
Winner of a Schneider Family Honor! "A beautifully rendered and deeply inspiring book for everyone who has ever read slowly-myself included! Hudson shows us the beauty and magic that can come from taking our time. Brilliant."-Jacqueline Woodson Hudson Talbott's...

A neurodivergent author shares a story inspired by his childhood struggles with reading as a nontraditional learner. (Picture Book Age 4-8)

Out into the big wide lake
Harbridge, Paul
Paper Book
An empowering and necessary picture book about a young girl with Down syndrome who gains confidence and independence through a visit to her grandparents.

A trip to her grandparents' lakeside store helps a girl with Down syndrome develop the skills and confidence to step in when her grandfather is unable to make his usual deliveries by boat. (Picture Book Age 4-8)

Rescue & Jessica : a life-changing friendship
Kensky, Jessica
Paper Book
A 2019 Schneider Family Book Award Winner Based on a real-life partnership, the heartening story of the love and teamwork between a girl and her service dog will illuminate and inspire. Rescue thought he'd grow up to be a Seeing Eye dog -- it's the family business,...

Inspired by the true story of Jessica's dog Rescue, who trained to be a service dog and joined her family after Jessica and her husband were injured in the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings. (Picture Book Age 5-9)

Best day ever!
Singer, Marilyn
Paper Book
A sweet dog-loves-kid/kid-loves-dog story, in which the kid uses a wheelchair, from an award-winning children's poet and talented debut illustrator. This playful puppy thinks she's having the best day ever! She's so happy to be out with her friend, she doesn...

Despite some setbacks, a puppy and her boy enjoy a day of playing and exploring together. (Picture Book Age 4-7)

I talk like a river
Scott, Jordan
Paper Book
Winner of the Schneider Family Book Award Boston Globe-Horn Book Award Winner What if words got stuck in the back of your mouth whenever you tried to speak? What if they never came out the way you wanted them to? Sometimes it takes a change of perspective to get...

A trip to the river with his father helps a young boy see his stutter in a new way after a bad speech day at school in this story based on a true event from the author's childhood. (Picture Book Age 4-8)

Just ask! : be different, be brave, be you
Sotomayor, Sonia
Paper Book
Justice Sonia Sotomayor and award-winning artist Rafael Lopez create a kind and caring book about the differences that make each of us unique. A #1 New York Times bestseller! Winner of the Schneider Family Book Award! Feeling different,...

Inspired by Supreme Court justice Sonia Sotomayor's experiences as a child with Type 1 diabetes, this book shares the ways people of all abilities contribute to their communities as young Sonia and her friends plant a garden. (Picture Book Age 4-8)

Fighting for yes! : the story of disability rights activist Judith Heumann
Cocca-Leffler, Maryann
Paper Book
A picture book biography celebrating the life and work of disability rights activist and icon Judith Heumann, highlighting one of her landmark achievements--leading the historic 504 Sit-in in 1977From a very young age, Judy Heumann heard the word NO. When she wanted to attend public school, the...

A biography of disability rights activist Judith Heumann, focusing on her childhood experiences as a kid with a disability and her work as an activist to improve the lives of people with disabilities, including the 504 Sit-In and other protests that led to the passage of the ADA in 1990. (Children's Nonfiction Age 6-9)

A life of service : the story of Senator Tammy Duckworth
Soontornvat, Christina
Paper Book
Thai American creators portray the inspirational and barrier-breaking life of Senator Tammy Duckworth in a picture-book tribute to an extraordinary woman. Senator Tammy Duckworth has logged a long list of "firsts" during her tenure as the first Thai American woman elected to...

A biography of disabled veteran and US Senator Tammy Duckworth, one of many books in our biography section highlighting amazing people with disabilities from the past and the present. (Children's Nonfiction Age 6-9)

All the way to the top : how one girl's fight for Americans with disabilities changed everything
Pimentel, Annette Bay
Paper Book
2021 Schneider Family Book Award Young Children's Honor Book (American Library Association) Experience the true story of lifelong activist Jennifer Keelan-Chaffins and her participation in the Capitol Crawl in this inspiring autobiographical picture book. This beautifully illustrated story...

The Capitol Crawl was a little-known pivotal moment in the fight for the passage of the ADA--and elementary school student Jennifer Keelan was part of it! (Children's Nonfiction Age 4-9)

Not so different : what you really want to ask about having a disability
Burcaw, Shane
Paper Book
Not So Different offers a humorous, relatable, and refreshingly honest glimpse into Shane Burcaw's life. Shane tackles many of the mundane and quirky questions that he's often asked about living with a disability, and shows readers that he's just as approachable, friendly, and funny as...

Author and YouTuber Shane Burcaw answers some of the common questions kids have about his disability with humor and warmth. This is a favorite with local elementary school teachers and their students as well! (Children's Nonfiction Age 6-9)

The lemonade stand
Reid, C. L.
Paper Book
It's summer, and Emma and Izzie are bored and broke. Setting up a lemonade stand is a sweet way to solve both those problems! But running a business isn't as easy as it seems. Hopefully their hard work will pay off! Emma is Deaf and often uses sign language to communicate, and this early chapter...

Deaf-blind author C.L. Reid incorporates ASL into this easy reader series about a young girl who uses cochlear implants and sign language to navigate the everyday challenges of childhood. (Easy Readers Level 4)

We want to go to school! : the fight for disability rights
Cocca-Leffler, Maryann
Paper Book
A Junior Library Guild Selection February 2022 The true story of the people who helped make every public school a more inclusive place. There was a time in the United States when millions of children with disabilities weren't allowed to go to...
It's hard to believe that there was a time when kids with disabilities often couldn't go to school with their friends and neighbors! This picture book shares the history of the legal fights that guarantee all kids a place in their public schools. (Children's Nonfiction Age 4-8)

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