July is disability pride month! While I don’t have the time to do a full book recommendation list, here are a couple picture books to check out this month.

Nonfiction

We Want to Go to School! The Fight for Disability Rights by Maryann Cocca-Leffler and Janine Leffler.

In the United States, there was a time when children with disabilities weren’t allowed to go to public school. In 1971, seven families decided to change things. Parents and kids fought for a change, all the way up to the Supreme Court. In the landmark case Mills v. Board of Education of the District of Columbia, millions of kids with disabilities were finally given the right to a free, public education. Mills v. Board of Education also helped pave the way for other disability rights legislation, like the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Fiction

What Happened to You? by James Catchpole. Illustrated by Karen George.

Joe’s having a great time pretending to be a pirate, dodging sharks and crocodiles, when a kid notices: “you only have one leg! What happened to you?” Joe doesn’t want to tell them, even as they hit him with a barrage of wild guesses. When one girl asks Joe instead, “Did I just step on a crocodile?” the questions are forgotten and the game begins! An author’s note discussing talking about disabilities to your child and the importance of empathy.