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A Day With No Words is written by Tiffany Hammond and illustrated by Kate Cosgrove. This book is the winner of the 2024 Dolly Gray Children's Literature Award and a New York Time's #1 Bestseller. This contemporary realistic fiction story is about a young boy named Aidan with autism. The young boy pays very close attention to how other people speak. He talks about how some voices are like air, while other voices are like water. He notices that some voices are big like storms, while other voices are soft and smooth like freshly whipped cream. Aidan notices the differences in voices as he himself does not speak, he uses a tablet to help with his communication needs. The author brings to light that nonverbal communication is a type of communication. People who use verbal communication to relay their thoughts and feelings also rely on nonverbal communication throughout their day. Aidan also shares some things he appreciates doing that others may not understand. A Day With No Words is written from the little boy’s perspective which gives the reader an opportunity to understand what it is like to live as a nonspeaking individual. This book brings to light that not every child is exactly the same and neurodiversity is something that can be celebrated.

I would highly recommend this book for kindergarten through 3rd grade students. This book offers a small glimpse into the life of a nonverbal autistic child. It helps the reader develop an awareness and empathy for someone who may seem different from themself. It also offers an opportunity for children with autism to see themselves as a main character in a story. I also really appreciated the illustrations, they offered an opportunity for the reader to understand better what the main character was thinking and how he was feeling throughout the story. I also really appreciated the small symbols of peace and love within the tattoos on the fast food worker’s arm. I feel like that reiterates to us, the reader, that our differences make us unique and that we have so much more in common than meets the eye.

This book would offer a great opportunity to brainstorm nonverbal language we use throughout our day; body language, pictures, gestures, facial expressions, writing, etc. Our classroom and communities are very verbal places but there are also a number of ways we communicate in nonverbal ways. The author also uses many similes throughout the book, “Daddy’s voice is like air, soft as a light summer breeze that kisses my cheek, strong as the winds of hurricanes that abandon ships at sea.” Perhaps this could be a way to introduce similes. You could have the students listen to sounds or voices and they could think of a simile that describes the sound or voice.

A Day With No Words was written by Tiffany Hammond and illustrated by Kate Cosgrove. This book was publish in 2023 and received the Dolly Gray Children’s Literature Award (2024) and was on the Center for the Study of Multicultural Children's Literature Best Books (2023). In addition to this, it was New York Time’s #1 Best Selling Picture book! This book’s main character is a boy named Aidan who is autistic and nonverbal. The book shows the reader what it is like to spend a day existing as Aidan. The book starts off with Aidan waking up in the morning, walking to the park, playing at the park, and then going to get food at a fast food place. All are common experiences many children have with their parents. However, the reader gets to see from Aidan’s perspective as Aidan shares his thoughts throughout the story. Aidan understands and uses words but doesn’t use his voice to speak words. Instead, Aidan uses his device to push buttons that represent the images/words he is communicating. Throughout the story Aidan is able to be fully aware of the details of everyday life. He hears many voices and relates them to storms, whipped cream, waves, and air. This shows the wide spectrum of voice range and communication. This pairs nicely with the colors and tones used in the illustrations to show the wide range of voices and emotions associated with them. It also parallels Aidan’s feelings/response to the different voices he hears. Aidan is self-aware that he does things that people do not understand. The relationship between Aidan and his mom is strong as she is in tune with what comforts him versus what makes him anxious. When his mom takes him to the park, the illustration of the other mothers nearby with their children portrays the misunderstandings of children with autism as one mother sneers “That boy is handicapped” when Aidan flaps. One mom is holding her son to protect him from Aidan. Another mom looks like she is showing pity on Aidan and his mom as her daughter hides behind her. Later in the story, Aidan’s mom uses her own tablet when ordering food at a fast food restaurant. Aidan’s mom uses the device just like Aidan to model navigating communication with a verbal world. This book highlights the challenges a nonspeaking individual faces. With support of the illustrations this picture book also shows how humans constantly use nonverbal communication as well (facial expressions, hand gestures, touch, and written word). Messages can be heard without having a voice. The illustrations have different tones of color used to contrast the thoughts, feelings, wants, needs, and voices within a community. They also show how Aidan perceives all the voices and noise around him. He has a cunning sense of perception! This book helps to foster an understanding and acceptance of people like Aidan. This book can be seen as a contemporary fiction picture book because it takes place in modern society with use of the tablet device for communication instead of just picture cards from previous decades. It also has the theme of disability through representation of Aidan as a nonverbal autistic child. Many books are written to explain the nature of a disability. This picture book offered perspective from a nonverbal child and showed diversity in how all humans communicate. I found this book to be a respectful representation of disability that could be suitable for primary to intermediate elementary students. I would use this book to discuss the themes of communication beyond spoken words, patience, understanding, acceptance, autism awareness, and inclusion. Since this book focuses on the community, I would use this book as an introduction for a class community action project. Community action projects would be used to either spread awareness or provide a sense of acceptance and belonging within the community. Another way I would use this book is by focusing on the theme of communication. This can be used across all subject areas. I would put students in groups to present on a topic. However, they will not be able to use words. They will have to be creative and use other forms of communication (sounds, gestures, facial expressions, pictures, etc.) to convey their feelings/message. Afterwards, we will discuss the different modes of communication from both the presenter and audience member’s perspective. For an art class, students can do an illustrator study! Students can be provided with different voices/sounds and draw their emotional response to each sound using different colors. This would be great for a mindfulness activity too for social emotional-learning! Overall, this book offers a sense of belonging for nonverbal students and would be beneficial to add to any classroom library!

Swim Team by #1 New York Times bestselling author, Johnnie Christmas, is a graphic novel about a young girl who takes on a new home, new friends, and a daunting new sport. It has been the recipient of many awards, including the National Book Award Longlist, Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor, BCALA Literary Award Winner, Black-Eyed Susan Award, Maud Hart Lovelace Award, Yellowhammer Award, and Jane Addams Book Award Honor. Bree, the main character, reluctantly joins “Swim 101” after all other elective classes are full. From there, she must face her fears of the water as she also navigates new friends and some new not-so-friendly classmates. As we follow Bree on this journey, we learn about the historic segregation and oppression Black Americans faced as they fought for the right to swim in public pools and beaches and how spirit, determination, and community can be the missing puzzle-pieces to success. I’m a “newbie” when it comes to reading in the graphic novel format, but I really enjoyed how the illustrations (which were stunning, by the way) propelled the plot forward as much as the text. Swim Team would be a wonderful book for readers age 9-13. I would teach this in a fifth grade monolingual or linguistically blended classroom to do a genre study on graphic novels and the use of color and light in the illustrations to demonstrate mood of the story. It would also be a great fit for teaching theme, as there are several clear themes that students would resonate with in the text.

I will admit that, when I was first offered a review copy of Postcards From Beyond Reality, I wasn't sure how well the project would work out. I knew how convincingly Bernard Jan had managed to inhabit Michael Daniels' personality within the novel Cruel Summer, but to repeat the feat for a whole poetry collection did seem ambitious to say the least. I should have had more faith!

I loved being given deeper insights into Michael's character through his poetry. It often felt as though I was surreptitiously reading his journal or diary instead. The work is so personal yet also addresses universal themes, particularly those that are important to young people. On remembering how the events of Cruel Summer affected Michael, I could see echoes within the poems however I don't think it is necessary to have already read the novel in order to appreciate Postcards From Beyond Reality. The two works are very much companions rather than a series so I can imagine that it would be just as rewarding to experience Michael's poetry before learning more about his life.

P.S. It's not often that I'm up on reading trends, but I spotted, on the day after Bernard Jan announced Postcards From Beyond Reality was available for pre-order, that it was already the #1 New Release in Amazon.com's Teen & Young Adult Poetry eBooks category!