Disabilities

Books which teach sensitivity for people with disabilities of various kinds,
including physical disabilities and learning diabilities.

• Gellman, Ellie, Jeremy's Dreidel. Maryland: Kar-Ben Copies. This is the story of a boy who makes a braille dreidel for his blind father. The story deals more with the issue of sensitivity to disabilities than it does with Chanukah. It's a wonderful book.
• Peterseil. Tehila, The Safe Place. Pitspopany Press, 1996. Kinneret is a fourth grader with a language processing learning disability. Her experiences at school are devastating, but no one understands. The reader, however, is given insight into the experiences and emotions of a child with learning disabilities trying to survive in school each day. Kinneret is finally diagnosed and receives the services of a dedicated special education teacher who teaches not only Kinneret, but her teacher as well, a well-meaning woman who is deeply entrenched in her way of doing things. This is a deeply moving book and enormously valuable to anyone who wants to understand the world of a learning-disabled student.
• Peterseil, Yaacov (illus. by Avi Katz), Princess Alopecia. Pitspopany Press, 1999. Alopecia is a mysterious disease affecting some 4 million people in the United States; it is marked by inexplicable hair loss. In a community which prizes hair as the most important physical trait a girl can possess, Alo is supremely challenged when her hair begins to fall out and she risks losing her status as the star of the town's Rapunzel's Festival. Her teacher, however, take control of the situation and involves the class in a project that is generates empathy and brings healing. This story is for every child who faces inexplicable challenges and obstacles in life, and for every child who just might run into another child who dies. (age 6+)