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kristenremenar's review against another edition
informative
lighthearted
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
3.0
trevoryan's review against another edition
5.0
A great, sweet, kind little book about two siblings. One is neurodiverse and nonverbal, one is neurotypical. And they got along just fine.
beths0103's review against another edition
3.0
An overall good story about a young nonverbal autistic girl and what her regular life is like, but I think the illustrator missed the mark by making the characters cats instead of humans. That feels like a sleight to autistic kids who had the opportunity to see themselves in a book.
allmadhere106's review against another edition
3.0
For: readers looking for a book starring a nonverbal autistic child as they go about their day.
Possible red flags: frustration; sensory overload.
Possible red flags: frustration; sensory overload.
xxpumpkincatxx's review against another edition
4.0
Perfectly shown visuals, but like others said would have loved to see a human child represented rather than animals. Still very cute though!
bardicbramley's review against another edition
4.0
After reading this I had to do a little check... and I was right. Rose the author and illustrator is autistic herself.
I know this shouldn't necessarily matter, but as someone who is autistic and partially verbal myself, I like to look into whether the books that represent neurodivergencies are own voice or not (although even then we can't always know for sure or expect to have this information publicly disclosed).
I haven't seen a picture book before that represents AAC (alternative augmentative communication).
I've seen children sometimes be encouraged to use flashcards and other tools in schools, although this is still majorly discouraged in favour of speech therapy, but I've never seen it represented in a story. I really hope this is something I begin to see more of.
As someone who was late diagnosed, I struggle with allowing myself to use AAC. There is a societal understanding that speaking is normal, and anything else is weird, time consuming, or irritating.
I'm glad to see an uptake of understanding the sensory reactions and needs of autistic children, especially in books, but I really hope more books like this, representing other traits of neurodivergent children (and adults) become more mainstream/commonplace.
It's not perfect (the typical animals instead of people, it's a little oversimplified for my liking) but considering I've not seen this before, I'm very happy with it.
This will be going in my all-times-favourites folder even without a 5 star review exactly for these reasons.
I know this shouldn't necessarily matter, but as someone who is autistic and partially verbal myself, I like to look into whether the books that represent neurodivergencies are own voice or not (although even then we can't always know for sure or expect to have this information publicly disclosed).
I haven't seen a picture book before that represents AAC (alternative augmentative communication).
I've seen children sometimes be encouraged to use flashcards and other tools in schools, although this is still majorly discouraged in favour of speech therapy, but I've never seen it represented in a story. I really hope this is something I begin to see more of.
As someone who was late diagnosed, I struggle with allowing myself to use AAC. There is a societal understanding that speaking is normal, and anything else is weird, time consuming, or irritating.
I'm glad to see an uptake of understanding the sensory reactions and needs of autistic children, especially in books, but I really hope more books like this, representing other traits of neurodivergent children (and adults) become more mainstream/commonplace.
It's not perfect (the typical animals instead of people, it's a little oversimplified for my liking) but considering I've not seen this before, I'm very happy with it.
This will be going in my all-times-favourites folder even without a 5 star review exactly for these reasons.
antlersantlers's review against another edition
3.0
A cute picture book about a non-verbal child. I think the main character is intended to be on the autism spectrum, but it could just as easily represent a late-talking or shy child. However, not using humans is a real missed opportunity. Imagine how powerful it would be for a child to see themselves reflected in this book!
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