Children's Books About Limb Differences
Books about limb differences can help families in different parts of their journeys. When I worked in the NICU, I found that many parents learned that their child had a limb difference when they were born. This was not something they were anticipating. So books about limb differences can be helpful for parents wanting to support an older sibling, as the whole family learns more. (NICU people check out the great Amniotic Band Syndrome below!) As children become more aware and encounter more situations with kids who didn’t know about their limb difference, there is an increasing need for support. In addition, some children have a limb difference as a result of an illness or an accident later in childhood. Therefore, these books would also be helpful on the inpatient floor or in an orthopedic clinic. Some children use adaptive equipment and so do not. Either way it can help them to learn about options to choose what is best for them.
Besides the books I am sharing today, I actually found an amazing number of books that feature a protagonist with a limb difference. If you are working with a child, and it would be helpful to find a book about a similar difference - check out this long list that will tell you what difference each book features: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_children%27s_books_featuring_characters_with_limb_differences (I have NOT previewed all of these titles.)
What Makes You Super? Let’s Talk About Amniotic Band Syndrome By Fernanda Neves
This book explains Amniotic Band Syndrome simply and with a touch of humor. The book celebrates diversity. It does any excellent job communicating that kids are happy talking about limb differences if a child asks the right way, but that truly its not that big of a deal. I would highly recommend it for a classroom or peers of a child with Amniotic Band Syndrome.
https://amzn.to/4rxrSfr
She Kept Dancing: The True Story of a Professional Dancer with a Limb Difference by Sydney Mesher and Catherine Laudone
This book tells a real life story of a girl with a limb difference. The book talks about the reactions from other children and going through set backs. The book could be helpful for kids to feel less alone in their own limb differences.
https://amzn.to/4qR8mt4
You’re So Amazing by James and Lucy Catchpole
This book tells the story of Joe who is playing with his friend on the playground. The play gets disrupted by adults telling Joe how amazing he is. Everyone praises Joe for doing the same things that the other kids are doing because he has a limb difference. People try to treat him like he is special which keeps him from feeling “normal'“. At one point, he hides so that his friend can feel special and people don’t give him all of the attention. Then an adult comes along and assumes he is feeling left out and pushes him to join the kids. The lesson is that kids are good at playing and just being kids and “well-meaning” adults can actually make the situation worse. This book could be good for classrooms to discuss about treating everyone the same and what that means. The book could also be good for read alouds where adults are present, as the lesson is actually more for them. Good for young children through adult.
https://amzn.to/4rxDeA5
What Happened to You? By James Catchpole
This is a great book to help families talk about what they should do or say when they notice a difference. It is a playful story of a boy with a missing leg and how it feels when people say insensitive things. It also includes parenting tips for those who want to educate their children on being sensitive, empathetic, and respectful to people with disabilities. Great for young children. Another great title by the same author is called You Are So Amazing! The same character gets frustrated when he gets too much attention for doing everything and longs for people to treat him like everyone else.
https://amzn.to/46hLprS
When Charley Met Emma by Amy Webb
This story talks about an encounter Charley and Emma have on the playground. Emma has limb differences and is in a wheelchair. Charley initially asks a lot of questions, but learns that everyone has differences, but also ways that they are the same. In this book, Emma advocates for herself, and at the end of the book, there are several parenting tips about how to teach a child to advocate for themselves. Good for preschool through middle elementary. There are also two more great books in the Emma series that take you on other adventures with Emma where she learns to explore and “champion her inner awesomeness”. (I have only read the first two, but I can only imagine that the third is great too!) https://amzn.to/4b6xck0
New Hands, New Life: Robots, Prostheses, and Innovation by Alex Mihailidis and Jan Andrysek
This book is very thorough and educational. It is divided up in a way that could allow adults to pick and choose parts. It starts by talking about bones, muscles, the brain, and how they all work together. The book then goes into different reasons that this doesn’t work including illness, disease, injuries, and paralysis. (the book does refer to this as “when things go wrong” which might be triggering for those who were born without a limb). The book then covers all sorts of options in depth including prostheses, assistive technologies, orthoses, wheelchairs, and robots. This book could be super helpful for children who need one of these options or for a classroom who has a student that uses one of these options. https://amzn.to/4axNT7Z
Bionic Beasts: Saving Animals Lives with Artificial Flippers, Legs, and Beaks by Jolene Gutiérrez
This book gives specific examples of prosthetics created for animals with injuries or limb differences. The book gives lots of details and might be best breaking down into chapters. The book also includes super cool experiments that let kids experiment with building prosthetics. While this book does not talk about human prosthetics or what that experience is like, a science-loving or animal-loving child could gain a better understanding of the process and growth in prosthetics.
https://amzn.to/4u6RkKC
