Book # 22: All My Stripes

All My Stripes  A Story for Children with Autism

All My Stripes has many endearing qualities and an overall positive message (a child is much more than his "autism"). Children between the ages of 3 and 10, both with and without a neuro-developmental disability like autism, will enjoy the story. The illustrations add a lot with their rich color and expressiveness. The main character, Zane the Zebra, is very self-aware ("I started talking about all the things I knew about the game, but since I was staring at the floor, nobody knew I was talking to them.")--so much so that he seems a bit unrealistic. The book has an extensive Reading Guide at the end that clearly states that the story can be used for teaching typical children about children with autism and what they may be feeling. Yet the title suggests that the story was written for children with autism. My conclusion is that this story is geared both toward children with high-functioning autism and typical children. There are a few weaknesses, such as the main character being left screaming under his desk during a fire drill without anyone noticing. That could definitely frighten young readers with a disability and should not happen in 2015. Overall, I think it is a good story.

Related Information	Comments
Title	All My Stripes
Author	Shaina Rudolph and Danielle Royer
Illustrator	Jennifer Zivoin
Publisher	Magination Press
Year of Pub:	2015
ISBN:	978-1-4338-1916-2
Age range	2-10
Type of Disability	Autism
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 story line 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  All My Stripes is the story of Zane the Zebra telling his mother about his bad day at school and his mother helping him feel better about himself. Zane has autism, symbolized by an "autism stripe" on his forehead. At school he experiences sensory processing difficulties and social interaction challenges, both of which make him feel different from his peers. His mother is able to hear his frustration and point out his other qualities--other stripes--like caring, navigating, and truth-telling. She points out to him that his autism stripe is not what defines him, but rather all of his different stripes together. Through this discussion with his mother, he realizes that he has a lot of positive qualities and that autism is just another stripe. By the end of the discussion, he "loved himself again."
Link to publisher:	http://www.apa.org/pubs/magination/index.aspx?utm_source=Publishers+Weekly%27s+Children%27s+Bookshelf&utm_campaign=280cefd00b-UA-15906914-1&utm_medium=email
Links to professional reviews:	http://portlandbookreview.com/2015/05/all-my-stripes-a-story-for-children-with-autism-by-shaina-rudolph-and-danielle-royer-illustrated-by-jennifer-zivoin/; http://www.amazon.com/All-My-Stripes-Children-Autism/dp/1433819171 (scroll all the way down to see reviews)
Awards:

                       

Standards for Quality Portrayal of Characters with a disability		Comments
1. Promotes empathy not pity	Yes
2. Promotes acceptance, not ridicule	Yes	Zane's mother and Zane himself are the only characters showing acceptance by the end of the story.
3. Emphasizes success rather than, or in addition to failure	Yes
4. Promotes positive images of persons with disabilities or illness	Yes
5. Assists children in gaining accurate understanding of the disability or illness	Yes	Because autism is such a wide spectrum, this story portrays a specific profile of a child with autism, but it cannot be said that Zane represents all children with autism.
6. Demonstrates respect for persons with disabilities or illness	Yes
7. Promotes attitude of “one of us” not “one of them.”	Tries to	But Zane is not shown in the company of peers after he comes to his realizations.
8. Uses people-first language	Yes
9. Describes the disability or person with disabilities or illness as realistic (not subhuman or superhuman)	Yes	Zane has a high-degree of self-awareness, probably more than most children with autism.
10. Depicts people with disabilities as more similar to than different from other people	Yes
11. Shows peoples’ strengths and abilities along with their disabilities	Yes
12. Represents characters as strong, independent people who others can admire or learn from	Yes
13. Represents people with disabilities from different racial and cultural backgrounds, religions, age groups, and sexual orientations	Yes	Zane is a zebra, which makes him universally acceptable
14. Shows people with disabilities in integrated settings and activities	Yes	Zane is shown in a school setting with typical peers.
15. Shows people with disabilities in valued occupations and diverse roles.	No
16. Shows people with disabilities in reciprocal relationships	No	Just with his mother
17. Main character develops and grows emotionally as a result of what happens in the story	Yes	Zane realizes that there is more to him than just autism.

Book #21 The Little Yellow Bottle

This is a story about war and disability and how both affect innocent children. It is also about resilience and optimism and children’s natural will to live and play. This story could be used to help children recovering from any kind of war situation, including terrorist attacks in the U.S. or anywhere in the world. It might be especially relevant to children who lost limbs in the Boston Marathon bombing last April. This story uses a role model—an adult who has been through a similar attack—to inspire the child to keep living and realize his potential. After the Boston Marathon attack, people who had lost limbs in the past came to the hospitals in Boston to inspire those wounded in the attack. “People helping people” is an important theme of this story.

	Related Information	Comments
Title	The Little Yellow Bottle	Translated from the French: Petite bouteille jaune
Author	Angele Delaunois	No specific web site
Illustrator	Christine Delezenne	http://www.delezenneillustration.com/
Publisher	Second Story Press
Year of Pub:	2011
ISBN:	978-1-926920-34-4
Age range	6-12	Age range is my opinion. This book could be read with younger children who have lost a limb or whose siblings have lost a limb.
Type of Disability	Physical	Loss of limbs
Fiction or Nonfiction	Fiction	Theme of war; bombs exploding where children are playing
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 story line 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:  Marwa and Ahmad are playing soccer in a shaded forest near their village when Ahmad comes across a little yellow bottle. The children don’t connect the bottle with the airplane that dropped bombs near the village a few days before. Ahmad picks up the bottle, and it blows up, severely injuring both children. Ahmed loses an arm and a leg, and Marwa, the narrator, has cuts all over her body. The rest of the story is Marwa’s account of her own recovery and how her friend Ahmed slowly returns to living and laughing, learns to use crutches and then a prosthetic leg, and becomes the coach of the soccer team. The illustrations are combinations of drawings, collage, and photography. The dark colors and mixed media emphasize the characters’ physical and emotional struggles as they heal.
Link to publisher:	http://secondstorypress.ca/books?page=10
Links to professional reviews:	https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/angele-delaunois/little-yellow-bottle/
Awards:	If you know of any rewards 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
3. Emphasizes success rather than, or in addition to failure	Yes	Ahmed learns to walk on his prosthetic leg and becomes a soccer coach.
4. Promotes positive images of persons with disabilities or illness	Yes
5. Assists children in gaining accurate understanding of the disability or illness	Somewhat
6. Demonstrates respect for persons with disabilities or illness	Yes
7. Promotes attitude of “one of us” not “one of them.”	Yes
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	Yes
11. Shows peoples’ strengths and abilities along with their disabilities	Yes
12. Represents characters as strong, independent people who others can admire or learn from	Yes	Ahmed is the best soccer coach the team has ever had.
13. Represents people with disabilities from different racial and cultural backgrounds, religions, age groups, and sexual orientations	Yes	Characters have Arabic names (Marwa and Ahmed) and they are depicted as being from a country in Africa or Asia.
14. Shows people with disabilities in integrated settings and activities	Somewhat
15. Shows people with disabilities in valued occupations and diverse roles.	Yes	Soccer player, soccer coach, mentor
16. Shows people with disabilities in reciprocal relationships	Yes	Marwa and Ahmed remain good friends.
17. Main character develops and grows emotionally as a result of what happens in the story	Yes	Both the narrator and her friend grow emotionally.