Final Project - Text Reflection

All of the picture books in my final project text set feature main characters who have some form of physical disability that requires them to use a wheelchair, whether it be cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, or an unnamed disability. I found several similarities across the books. First of all, they all had happy endings. No matter how much the character struggled throughout the story, it always ended on a hopeful note. I think it is important for readers to leave a book about something as difficult as disability with a feeling of optimism. I also saw that the people who surrounded the character with a disability, for the most part, treated them just like anyone else. While all the books included characters that used wheelchairs, they focused on different aspects of their lives. Mama Zooms features a parent in a wheelchair rather than a child. My Buddy documents a young boy’s relationship with his Service Dog. Howie Helps Himself follows a little boy as he struggles to become independent using his wheelchair. Rolling Along is the story of a little boy and his first experiences with a wheelchair. And, Arnie and the New Kid shows what might happen if a child in a wheelchair were to be made fun of in school.

I do wish I had been able to find more recent books. My library at home did not have anything more recent than the ones I found. I did end up with one book from 2000, but the other books ranged all the way back to 1975. I think the set I have can still be used with children today, but, either before or after the books are read, an adult should have a discussion with the student about the outdated phrases such as “handicapped”. Perhaps a parent or a teacher can explain why that term is no longer used and what is used today when talking about individuals in wheelchairs.

I also had a lot of difficulty finding biographical information on the authors. A couple the books had a small “about the author” paragraph, such as Rolling Along. For others, like My Buddy, the only clue I had as to who the author was was her dedication in the back cover. The author of Arnie and the New Kid actually has her own website; unfortunately, it provided very little biographical information that would allow me to be sure whether or not she was an insider or an outsider or if she had had any contact with insiders that would especially qualify her to write a book about someone with a physical disability. In the end, I believe I was able to find enough information on the authors to decide something about their credibility. I would have liked to find much more though.

Overall, all five of these texts would be, in my opinion, positive additions to a classroom library. Some, like Howie Helps Himself, may require scaffolding to deal with outdated terms, but it is worth it to allow students to see windows to other people and mirrors of themselves in their literature.

They all deal with a similar issue from different vantage points and for different purposes, so all five books in the set are important in their own right.