Inclusive Books for Children's Book Week
To celebrate the 105th anniversary of Children’s Book Week, we have searched the web for our top 10 inclusive book recommendations! This year’s theme is ‘No Rules. Just Read,’ We encourage you to get involved and enjoy the benefits of a good book. Reading is a great way to spark imagination and creativity and inspire children and young people living with long-term conditions by seeing themselves in the characters. It also helps to bond with your young ones and provides a way to relax and relieve stress. So, here are some of our inclusive recommended reads for different age groups.
5-8 Years
Little People, Big Dreams: Simone Biles
Learn about the inspiring life of Simone Biles, the mental-health advocate and record-breaking athlete.
This powerful book features stylish and quirky illustrations and extra facts at the back, including a biographical timeline with historical photos and a detailed profile of the gymnast’s life.
The Hospital Dog, Julia Donaldson
Most of them happy but some of them bored.
A girl’s feeling shy and a baby is howling,
A toddler’s cross and a teenager’s scowling.
A visitor’s jumping about like a frog.
But looks who’s arrived! It’s the hospital dog.”
Super Daisy, Rebecca Smith
Inspired by a true story, SuperDaisy tells the tale of a little girl undergoing cancer treatment. Told in rhyme, Daisy lets her imagination run wild as she dresses up in fancy dress, coming to the rescue in different and exciting scenarios. In her superhero disguise, Daisy is able to shake off her worries about being unwell and embrace a freer world – and become the superhero that she really is.
“SuperDaisy was born…to provide a story of hope for children like Daisy,…emphasising the extraordinary strength of character discovered by children facing this ordeal.
8-12 Years
The Secret of Haven Point, Lisette Auton
Washed up as a baby beside a remote lighthouse and raised by a mermaid, Alpha Lux was the first foundling at Haven Point. Now the lighthouse is a ramshackle home for any disabled person who needs somewhere to belong. Looting from passing ships to make a living, they call themselves the Wrecklings, and for the children of Haven Point life is spent adventuring on the wild shore (and getting into trouble with the grown-ups).
You can do anything! Jonnie Peacock
You Can Do Anything! Written by Paralympian gold medalist Jonnie Peacock, telling his own inspirational story! It’s a welcome addition to the growing self-help guides for young people, which includes tips and suggestions for finding your own goals and reaching happiness.
Percy Jackson and The Wrath of the Triple Goddess by Rick Riordan
The original hero on a brand-new adventure! The series features characters with ADHD and dyslexia, and presents these conditions as superpowers rather than obstacles.
Percy Jackson has saved the world multiple times – battling monsters, Titans, even death himself – so graduating high school should be a breeze, right? Wrong. Percy needs three recommendation letters from the gods before his final year in high school comes to an end. And one thing Percy knows, the gods on Mount Olympus don’t do anything for free.
Impossible Creatures by Katherine Rundell
Christopher is stunned when he discovers a passage to the Archipelago: a cluster of magical islands where all the creatures of myth still live and breed and thrive in their thousands. There he meets Mal: a girl from the islands, who is in possession of a flying coat and a baby griffin, and who is being pursued by a killer. Together they embark on an urgent quest to discover why the creatures are suddenly perishing, voyaging across the wild splendour of the Archipelago, where sphinxes hold secrets and centaurs do murder, in a bid to save both the islands and the world beyond them from a rising evil – before it’s too late.
Teen (12+)
The Cartographers, Amy Zhang
A romantic novel that tackles issues about family, mental health, friendship, philosophy, and love.
Struggling to balance the expectations of her immigrant mother with her own deep ambivalence about her place in the world, seventeen-year-old Ocean Sun takes her savings and goes off the grid. A haunting and romantic novel about family, friendship, philosophy, fitting in, and love from Amy Zhang, the acclaimed author of Falling into Place and This Is Where the World Ends.
Black Flamingo by Dean Atta
This is a book that celebrates one of our values of authenticity and true self—embracing individuality! A boy comes to terms with his identity as a mixed-race gay teen, and then at university, he finds his wings as a drag artist, The Black Flamingo. This is a bold story about the power of embracing your uniqueness. Sometimes, we need to take charge, to stand up wearing pink feathers—to show ourselves to the world in bold colour.
Wink, Rob Harrell
Based on Rob Harrell’s own real-life experience of eye cancer, and including amazing comic-strip artwork, this poignant and authentic novel is unforgettable, hilarious and uplifting.
Ross Molloy just wants to be normal. He doesn’t want to lose his hair, or wear a weird hat, or deal with the disappearing friends who don’t know what to say to ‘the cancer kid’. But with his recent diagnosis of a rare eye cancer, simply blending in is no longer an option. Ross – and his friends and his family – all need to work out how to deal with this devastating challenge that Life has thrown down. Maybe Batpig can come to the rescue?
You can find these books and more on many online stores such as Hive, or but pre-loved at World of Books and other online stores. You can even make a day of it this weekend, and visit your local library.
