Stories to Love and Learn From

I CAN STILL FEEL the peaceful joy, when I think about sitting on the classroom carpet after lunch, leaning forward just a little so that I can listen carefully and not miss a word, waiting for the page to turn to see the new picture. Later, as a teacher I found the same rhythm in my own classroom, a book in my hand, that special way teachers have, showing the picture to a group of students drawn into a story. Now, as a leader in special education, that moment looks the same, but feels different. I find myself thinking more carefully about the texts themselves, what they are teaching, and seeking out stories that can be both loved and learned from, to support our curriculum and a brighter future.

In Australian classrooms, around one in 10 children live with a disability, yet a far greater proportion of students, around one in four, receive educational adjustments. This reality reflects the complexities of our work. We teach in schools where disability or different ability is everywhere, except in the stories we read.

There is a phrase that was coined by AFL Queensland regarding women’s sport (bear with me here, I promise this is the only sports analogy used in this article), that says, ‘If they can see it, they can be it.’ What happens when what students see is negative, misrepresented or uninformed? What happens when disability is absent from the texts we place in front of them?

A 2023 study examining the impact of literary texts featuring characters with disability, found that exposure alone does not necessarily build understanding. In some cases, stereotypical portrayals were linked to more negative attitudes, including increased fear, pity and social distance. At the same time, the study reinforced that when texts are selected and explored thoughtfully, they can play a meaningful role in shaping more informed, respectful and inclusive student attitudes.

While much of the focus is often placed on the impact that these texts have on students, there is also an important parallel for teachers. Disability representation in literature not only shapes student attitudes, but it can also influence the perspectives of the adults who are selecting, teaching and discussing these texts. For many educators, children’s literature can provide an opportunity to reflect on their own assumptions, language and expectations. The way disability is portrayed, discussed and questioned in the classroom, can reinforce existing misconceptions or open more informed and inclusive ways of thinking. In this sense, the use of high-quality texts is not only a tool for student learning, but a form of ongoing professional learning embedded within everyday practice.

"Disability representation in literature not only shapes student attitudes, but it can also influence the perspectives of the adults who are selecting, teaching and discussing these texts."

Over several months, I’ve gathered information from disabled people, parents and carers, teachers, disability advocates, libraries, online forums, and of course, students themselves, around their favourite children’s literature that includes characters with disability. There were around 80 texts recommended, so I read them all.

It would be a waste of time to include books here that aren’t five-star reads; the texts written about in this review received a full star for the following categories:

The Character or Characters: The book features a character who is disabled and the character isn’t tokenistic or deficit based. The disabled character/s are represented as whole people with agency, relationships and who can make mistakes.
The Plot: The character or characters are meaningfully embedded in the story with opportunities for growth, challenge or problem-solving, without positioning disability as something to be ‘fixed’.
Quality of Representation: The text avoids stereotypes and presents disability from an accurate, and lived-in perspective.
Depth: The book supports deeper thinking, builds understanding and invites meaningful discussion beyond surface-level inclusion.
Overall Classroom Value: The text is engaging, well-written and illustrated, and lends itself to purposeful teaching and learning.

Fish In A Tree

By: Lynda Mullaly Hunt
Target Audience: 9 to 12-year-olds and every teacher/leader who’s feeling a little flat.
Pages: 272 novel pages

About: Ally is new to the school; she’s been to a lot of schools. She’s spent years developing strategies to hide that she can’t read including behaviour that warrants being sent to see the Principal. Mr Daniels is also new to the school. He wears funny ties and calls his class his ‘Fantasticos’. When Mr Daniels notices what sits beneath Ally’s behaviour, she is gradually supported to understand that her struggles are not a reflection of her intelligence, but part of how she learns.

Quote: ‘But what really gets me is that in order for Mr Daniels to come up with this plan, he must have thought of me outside of school – when he didn’t have to think of me. I bet other teachers have never let me sit in their head one second longer than they had to.’

Note: This book made me cry, twice. Not just because of Ally’s story, but because it reminded me of the outstanding teachers I work alongside every day. Our school is filled with ‘Mr Daniels’ type teachers – those who notice what sits beneath the behaviour, adjust their practice, and create the conditions for students to experience success.

Wish In A Tree

By: Lynda Mullaly Hunt
Illustrated By: Nancy Carpenter
Target Audience: 7 to 10-year-olds
Pages: 32 picture book pages

About: Oliver’s mind is constantly active, filled with ideas, questions and curiosity. When he hears labels that position him as ‘lazy’ or ‘not trying’, Oliver internalises these messages and starts to wish he could be like everyone else. However, with help from his friends, he begins to see his thinking differently.

In the Classroom: Developing compassion and understanding of different learning experiences. Exploring metaphors and figurative language. Identifying and using alliteration. Discussing emotions such as sadness and feeling isolated. Exploring the importance of asking for help and speaking to a trusted adult. Reflecting on belonging and how isolation can be experienced in the classroom.

My Whirling, Twirling Motor

By: Merriam Sarcia Saunders
Illustrated By: Tammie Lyon
Target Audience: 4 to 9-year-olds. Children who find it difficult to focus on one task. Children with ADHD. Family, friends and teachers. Students who always seem to make mistakes and feel guilty for their behaviours. Students who may benefit from practicing gratitude.
Pages: 24 story pages and three parent, caregiver and teacher note pages filled with wonderful ideas.

About: Charlie is a boy who doesn’t always feel like he can control the motor that drives his body. The story normalises impulsivity and making mistakes without shame.

What Students Thought: Teacher and student one-on-one: Student traced the movement lines in the illustration with a finger. The student related to the mistakes made, and the feelings of guilt and difference. The student enjoyed writing a Wonderful List.

For the Classroom: Open discussions about impulses. Movement breaks: Whirl, wiggle, squirm, twirl. Tier 2 vocabulary study for younger students: Sparkle, annoying, forget, wonderful. Co-create a Wonderful List with a class, or as individuals. Use a Wonderful List as public praise.

Homework activity: Provide a YouTube link and have families create a Wonderful List with their child.

Discussion Point: American spelling used.

Bernie Thinks In Boxes

By: Jess Horn
Illustrated By: Zoe Bennett
Target Audience: 4 to 9-year-olds
Pages: 30 picture book pages

About: Bernie has inflexible thinking. Eggs belong in the breakfast box, not in the dinner box so Bernie goes to bed hungry. Her teacher belongs in the school box, not the shops box. Bernie hides. Toby also belongs in the school box. Bernie feels sick about going to his birthday party at the park. Bernie gets support from the adults around her to use echolalia for positive messages and support her thinking.

What Students Thought: This book was a great conversation starter. The students read this book with a teacher in a small group and the dialogue shared was very meaningful to them. They genuinely related to the examples given about inflexible thinking and loved the pictures.

For the Classroom: Drawing boxes and categorising important elements in the boxes. Talking about flexible thinking and problem solving. Growth mindset lessons from Bernie: ‘I can do this’. Picture walks.

Abdul’s Story

By: Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow
Illustrated By: Tiffany Rose
Target Audience: 8 to 12-year-olds
Pages: 30 story book pages (for older students)

About: Abdul loves to tell stories verbally but writing them down seems impossible. While the text doesn’t say Abdul has dyslexia, the story explains Abdul’s struggles with writing, spelling, letter reversals, feeling like tasks are overwhelming, and feeling despair when it comes to writing his stories down. The story also features a young Black Muslim protagonist and a Black Muslim role model.

What Students Thought: I read this one-on-one with an 11-year-old male student, who carefully considered the story and his own struggles. The complexity of the story, and subtlety of the disability allowed the student to do deep thinking and reflecting. The positive messaging supported the student’s understanding about accepting help. Although the student said he didn’t think much of the story, he did come and borrow it at reading time and selected it again during lunch time to re-read. His actions may speak louder than his words.

For the Classroom: Lessons about descriptive language and extended noun groups. Open discussions on strategies to support writing behaviours. Drafting processes, as the book has a clear message that it doesn’t have to be correct the first time.

The Amazing Edie Eckhart

By: Rosie Jones
Illustrated By: Natalie Smillie
Target Audience: 9 to 14-year-olds
Pages: 260

About: Edie has cerebral palsy, but it is not positioned as the central problem to the story. She’s starting secondary school, navigating friendships, new expectations and the uncertainty that comes with growing up. This story is written in diary form, and the story captures Edie’s thoughts with honesty, humour and at times contradiction as she works out who she is, and how much she really wants to rely on others. Edie is a strong, funny and sometimes flawed character and her disability is presented as part of her life rather than the defining feature.

What Students Thought: I read this with my own 14-year-old. We love Rosie as a comedian, and thought, why not read her story. We both bought it on our Kindles and ‘booked it in’ for our bedtime story. Sophie loved it. She said, ‘I wish I could have read this when I was in Year 6’ and ‘I thought there might be more swearing’ (because Rosie as a comedian is a little sweary). Sophie now is reading book two.

For the Classroom: Exploring identity, independence and self-advocacy. Use it as the example text for a diary entry assessment. Examine friendship changes, social dynamics, and transitions to secondary school. Wonderful use of age-appropriate themes and messages, as well as vocabulary studies. A meaningful and complex alternative for ‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid’ with a female protagonist.

A Day With No Words

By: Tiffany Hammond
Illustrated By: Kate Cosgrove
Target Audience: 4 to 10-year-olds and Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) users and their families
Pages: 48 picture book pages

About: This is a story about a family who has Autism and uses AAC on a tablet to communicate with themselves, and the world around them. It shows how ableism happens, and strategies to stop it. It is from the child’s first-person perspective and the images play an important role about what is happening inside a non-verbal child’s mind.

For the Classroom: Explore metaphor, imagery and expression through images and words. Sensory play and discussions. Use AAC in low-tech ways with class. Visual prompt creation. Talk about AAC and what that can look like.

The Brain Forest

By: Sandhya Menon
Illustrated By: Kushla Ross
Target Audience: 5 to 10-year-olds
Pages: 36 picture book pages

About: This is not a typical narrative. A mother and child walk through ‘The Brain Forest’ with rhymes and explanations about different types of neurodiversity in a gentle and age-appropriate way, naming a range of neurological differences. The book celebrates strengths and acknowledges challenges.

For the Classroom: Introducing neurodiversity in accessible language. Discussing brains and different strategies to support learning in junior primary school classrooms. Activities around student strengths. Create a ‘Brain Forest’ to represent different strategies students could use to help them as individuals.

The Black Book Of Colours

By: Menena Cottin and Rosana Faria
Target Audience: Everyone
Pages: 24 picture book pages

About: This text invites readers into the perspective of Thomas, a boy who is blind, as he describes colours through his other senses. Rather than relying on sight, colours are experienced through taste, touch, smell and sound. The pages are entirely black, with white text, Braille, and raised line drawings that encourage readers to engage physically with the book.

The story doesn’t follow a traditional narrative, or even talk about being blind, but it presents an alternative way of experiencing the world, where colour exists beyond what can be seen. There is Australian spelling.

What Students (and Adults) Thought: I left this text, open, on my office desk as an experiment. Every person was immediately drawn to the physical nature of the text, tracing the images and Braille with their fingers. The novelty of the black pages created curiosity, but the deeper engagement came through discussion. Students began to question how someone might understand colour without sight, which led to thoughtful conversations about perspective, difference and how people experience the world in different ways.

For the Classroom: Explore how the five senses contribute to understanding the world. Develop descriptive language and study similes and sensory detail. Create student’s own versions of ‘colour descriptions’ using non-visual senses. Discuss where you can find braille on excursions (and maybe in your own school).