Award-Winning Picture Books

We can’t say it enough – team TNP loves to read. From incorporating books in our classroom curriculum to adding to our own bookshelves for our continued learning and growth, we love finding and sharing new books with one another – and with you! Over the next several weeks we’ll be highlighting a new set of books for you to check out: the Schneider Family Book Award Winners and Dolly Gray Children’s Literature Award Winners for 2022. The Schneider Family Book Awards “honor an author or illustrator for a book that embodies an artistic expression of the disability experience for child and adolescent audiences” and the Dolly Gray Children’s Literature Award  “recognizes authors, illustrators, and publishers of high quality fictional and biographical children, intermediate, and young adult books that authentically portray individuals with developmental disabilities, such as autism spectrum disorders, intellectual disabilities, and Down syndrome.”

Today, we’re excited to highlight the 2022 young children/picture book award winners with you.

Bright colored book cover with blue bubble letters spelling “My City Speaks” with illustration of a bustling city in the background a young girl holding a white cane walking with her father.

In My City Speaks by Darren Lebeuf (Schneider Family Young Children Winner), we see the city through the experiences of a young blind girl. Beautiful illustrations and simple, descriptive text, allow children to explore a city in new ways, focusing on the sounds, smells, and tactile experiences that come together to create vibrant snapshots of life in a bustling city. Read and discuss this story to open up new perspectives on the world around you.

Book cover with ocean blue background and a pink tree in the left corner with a young girl with brown skin and head covering holding a paintbrush with one arm raised painting the sky.

A Sky-Blue Bench by Bahram Rahman (Schneider Family Young Children Honor), follows a little girl named Aria who lives in Afghanistan, as she returns to school following an accident. She has lost part of her left leg and uses a prosthetic leg to walk. She is worried about how she will sit at school, since there are no longer any benches or tables in the classroom, meaning she will have to sit on the floor. Aria’s determination to find a solution, and the support offered by family, friends, and neighbors, can be a great starting point for discussions around empathy, friendship, and inclusion.

Book cover of a young boy wearing a striped red shirt, jean shorts, and backback illustrated standing surrounded by tree branches and vines with descriptive words written on them in white text.

Author Hudson Talbott has written a compelling story, A Walk in the Words (Schneider Family Young Children Honor), about the pressures early readers can experience when they are slow to learn. He describes the journey from a reluctant, ashamed “slow reader” struggling to keep up with his peers, to a confident, curious reader who reads at his own pace. His own story laid the groundwork for this beautifully illustrated story of learning and acceptance. The young boy in the story moves from his artwork toward full expression of a story with the addition of reading and writing, a moving account of the magic of storytelling.

Blue, purple, and black sparkle background on a book cover with a little girl sitting in a wheelchair wearing a red dress looking up at her dad who is wearing a suit.

One of Anitra Rowe Shulte’s daughters is the inspiration for the character Elsie in the book Dancing with Daddy (Dolly Gray Award winner - Picture Book). Elsie uses a wheelchair and an augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) system. In this story, we follow Elsie as she prepares for a big night - the father-daughter dance! She shares the same feelings and desires as her two sisters - looking forward to dressing up and dancing with her daddy. Readers will see Elsie’s desires as no different than their own - a wonderful story that sparks recognition that all children are more alike than different.

Team TNP is always learning too! Please continue to let us know what you think about the books we have chosen to highlight, and tag us on social media (Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram) with book recommendations for our ever-growing list of stories to read and discuss.