Children's books.

For those interested in the request for children's books for a child with a physical disability, this list is provided to share around.

Girl and younger users

Berniece Rabe: -Margaret's Moves- about a girl who wanted to have a much better wheelchair (I think an electric one); but the family had trouble affording it.

Gillian Cross's -Calling a Dead Man- has a very forceful female character, manual wheelchair user, involving mystery novel

Hilary McKay: -Saffy's Angel- the girl wheelchair user, Sarah, is intelligent and enterprising.

Colin Theile: -Jodie's Journey- Australian girl, horserider, rheumatoid arthritis. Age 9-12. HarperCollins; 1990

Pippa Goodheart: -Pest Friends- (mid junior, partly illustrated story of girl at school who's happy in her wheelchair)
Wendy Orr & Kim Gamble: -Arabella- Illustrated story boy in a wheelchair. Age 4-8, 2000, Angus & Robertson Publishers;

Robert Munsch: -ZOOM- picture book; Scholastic/Cartwheel [0-439-18774-5] pre-school girl, electric wheelchair user.

Jeanne Willis: -Susan Laughs- Picture book, pre-school. Girl just doing things, revealed in last page as wheelchair user.

Boy users:

Catherine MacPhail: Wheels - -Dead Man Walking- 2003 (Puffin) Accident
Eric Walters: -Rebound -(2000). Stoddart Kids Books (USA) Young Adult. Accident

Helen Flint: -Not Just Rescuing- 2002 teenage boy uses a manual wheelchair.
Jane Stemp: -Waterbound- 1995 characters with several disabilities, not just wheelchair users.

Firdaus Kanga: -Trying to Grow- - a fictionalised autobiography of an Indian author in a wheelchair. May be suitable for 14year olds.

Christy Brown: -My Left Foot-
David Clayton: -Hotshots Don't Die- 2000 Heinemann(Older teenager injured in accident learns from younger wheelchair user). High Impact series for reluctant readers- 32 pages

Martin Waddell: -The Beat of the Drum- Boy wheelchair user from infancy as a result of the Troubles.

Matt Christopher : -The Great Quarterback Switch- (USA) Michael uses wheelchair, and telepathy to communicate football plays to his twin brother.
Matt Christopher, Robert Hirschfeld: -Wheel Wizards -(USA) Accident, wheelchair basketball.

Michael Foreman: -Seal Surfer- 1998 (picture book for older readers -boy wheelchair user, environmental theme)

Michael Coleman -Internet Detectives- series by (Macmillan, 1997).9-11 years.

Clare Bevan: -Mightier than the Sword- 1989 Blackie Children's Books;

Rowena Edlin-White: -Clo and the Albatross- (Lion) girl recovers from traumatic brain injury, has a character with cp, both use wheelchairs

Elizabeth Laird (Ed) -Me & My Electric- seven young people with varying disabilities, including deafness and Usher Syndrome, teamed with children's authors to tell their stories.

-What It's Like to Be Me- is another edited book of personal accounts by children with all sorts of disabilities, not just wheelchair users.

David Hill's -See Ya Simon-, and Susan Sallis' -No Time At All-, both have boys with life limiting conditions who use electric wheelchairs and die by the end of the story.

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Australian readers:
Try searching the catalogues of Angus and Robertson or Dymocks Bookstore for these books.

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Last Updated March 2003

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