Book #19 Anthony Best, A Picture Book about Asperger's

After reading this story, I was struck by how difficult it must be to write a realistic story about a character with an autism spectrum disorder while maintaining the standards for good literature that portray characters with disabilities. Authors want to show their characters’ true personalities and interactions, which in autism are often marked by what most people consider “weird,” “strange,” or “inappropriate” behaviors. Sometimes these characters are based on real children who have minimal positive interactions with their peers. It is clearly not easy for an author to find the right balance between portraying reality and portraying positive attributes such as “strength, independence, and similarity to peers.” This story emphasizes the reality of a child with Asperger's Syndrome who has a lot of trouble interacting with his peers. While some of the standards for good literature are not met or only partially met, there is something to be said for presenting a character realistically even if that reality does not include overwhelmingly positive attributes. This story would be a valuable addition to libraries because it promotes acceptance and tolerance despite a difficult reality.

	Related Information	Comments
Title	Anthony Best (A Picture Book about Asperger’s)
Author	Davene Fahy	http://www.davenefahy.com/
Illustrator	Carol Inouye	http://www.new-work.com/cithumb.htm
Publisher	Sky Pony Press	http://www.skyponypress.com/
Year of Pub:	2012
ISBN:     (ISBN-13)	978-1-61608-961-0
Age range	4-8
Type of Disability	Asperger’s
Fiction or Nonfiction	Fiction
Category:  B A) books that provide factual information about a disability B) books that provide information about a disability in a story format in which the character with a disability is integral to the plot C) books that provide stories that have a character with a disability who may or may not be integral to the storyline and who has been added to the story to achieve diversity and reflect reality D) books that include a main character with a disability but whose focus is not necessarily the disability
Annotation:  Anthony behaves differently from other kids. Hannah notices that Anthony gets upset easily, does not like nicknames, flaps his hands, and does not laugh at jokes. But something about him makes her want to play with him and be his friend. At the end, Hannah discovers Anthony has a hidden talent when she hears beautiful music coming from his home. There is an information page about autism spectrum disorders at the end of the book. On this page it is stated that children with autism spectrum disorders “occasionally have extraordinary skills not exhibited by most children."
Link to publisher:	http://www.skyponypress.com/
Links to professional reviews:	No professional reviews yet
Awards:	If you know of an award this book has received, please let me know.

                       

Standards for Quality Portrayal of Characters with a disability		Comments
1. Promotes empathy not pity	Yes
2. Promotes acceptance, not ridicule	Yes	Hannah explains why Anthony behaves the way he does.
3. Emphasizes success rather than, or in addition to failure	Yes	Anthony has a special ability—he is a talented pianist.
4. Promotes positive images of persons with disabilities or illness	Yes and no	Anthony’s strange behaviors are stated clearly, yet he is portrayed as positive in the end due to his musical talent.
5. Assists children in gaining accurate understanding of the disability or illness	Yes
6. Demonstrates respect for persons with disabilities or illness	Yes
7. Promotes attitude of “one of us” not “one of them.”	Not really	Anthony is portrayed as quite isolated in this story.
8. Uses people-first language	Yes
9. Describes the disability or person with disabilities or illness as realistic (not subhuman or superhuman)	Yes
10. Depicts people with disabilities as more similar to than different from other people	No	Anthony’s strange behaviors are the ones highlighted, not those that depict his similarity to other children his age.
11. Shows peoples’ strengths and abilities along with their disabilities	Yes	In the end
12. Represents characters as strong, independent people who others can admire or learn from	Somewhat	Not necessarily strong or independent, but definitely admirable in the end
13. Represents people with disabilities from different racial and cultural backgrounds, religions, age groups, and sexual orientations	No	Main character is white.
14. Shows people with disabilities in integrated settings and activities	Somewhat	There is one scene that takes place in the sandbox, but Anthony is shown throwing sand at the other children rather than playing with them.
15. Shows people with disabilities in valued occupations and diverse roles.	Yes	Pianist
16. Shows people with disabilities in reciprocal relationships	Not really	Though Hannah is interested in Anthony and wants to be his friend, no reciprocation is shown on Anthony’s part.
17. Main character develops and grows emotionally as a result of what happens in the story	Not clear	The story does not convey Anthony’s development or emotional growth, though it does show Anthony’s talent.