Books about differences for our new school

Every since Jordan was a baby, we’ve used books as a way to help kids better understand how we can all have differences and they aren’t scary. From Harry and Willy and Carrothead to Oliver’s High Five, we’ve loved how books open up conversations for us.

This school year was different for us. Since we moved a whopping one mile, Jordan was put into a different elementary school. And that meant we kind of had to start over with creating an accepting and understanding environment. So we decided to dig into a new group of books and donate them to our school library. Here’s a look at what we shared.

Stand Straight, Ella Kate
Jordan and I love love love this book. Jordan thinks it’s so good, she donated her personal copy to the school library. This book is about Ella Kate Ewing who grew up to be incredibly tall. She tells her story of how she had remarkable experiences due to her differences.

Giraffes Can’t Dance
I learned about this book from our friends, Nicole Kelly, during a weekend event celebrating the Americans with Disabilities Act. This hardback book tells a sweet story about how a giraffe was harassed for not being able to dance. It shows how the giraffe moves past the criticism and learns to be a dancer in his own way.

Jacob’s Eye Patch
This sweet book tells the story of how Jacob must wear an eye patch and he’s constantly asked why. It looks at how we might feel when there are a lot of questions about your differences and how sometimes you don’t want to talk about it.

Little Miss Jessica Goes to School
I’m not a big fan of those Beanie Boo dolls and Little Miss Jessica has eyes just like those dolls… but Jordan absolutely loved this story about a little girl who has one hand and her rough start on her first day of school. She learns you don’t have to run away from the ways kids react from a limb difference.

Different is Awesome
I’ve already written a lot about how our friend Ryan wrote a super sweet book about how a limb difference is awesome… just like so many other things that make us different and awesome. I was excited to give the library a signed copy of the book along with a bookmark and sticker from his Kickstarter campaign.

Along with giving the library the book collection, Jordan and I wrote her yearly picture book to introduce her to her fellow students. Not only is there a copy in each fourth grade classroom, there’s a copy in the library and the afterschool program has a copy as well. Take a look:

(If you can’t see it on this page, go to this link to check it out.)