October is National Dyslexia Awareness Month. Dyslexia is a very common learning disability with no known cure. It can be found across the world, in different languages and across many cultures. Studies have found that certain fonts, like Helvetica and sans serif fonts, are more dyslexic friendly and readers are able to see the text clearer. The Livingston Public Library’s website offers a dyslexic friendly option found in the Accessibility Menu, located on every page of our site.
Here are some books featuring characters with dyslexia:
(Descriptions provided by the publishers)
PICTURE BOOKS
Ben & Emma’s Big Hit by Gavin Newsom
An empowering picture book about a young boy with dyslexia who discovers a new way to look at reading
Aaron Slater, Illustrator by Andrea Beaty
Part of the The Questioneers Series: When Miss Greer asks each child in the class to write a story, second-grader Aaron, who loves to draw but struggles with reading, creates a story using pictures.
A Walk in the Words by Hudson Talbott
Through a story from his own childhood, Hudson Talbott shares the challenges–and ultimately the rewards–of being a non-mainstream kind of learner.
CHAPTER BOOKS
Welcome Back, Maple Mehta-Cohen by Kate McGovern
Maple Mehta-Cohen has been keeping a secret: she can’t read all that well. She has an impressive vocabulary and loves dictating stories into her recorder–especially the adventures of a daring sleuth who’s half Indian and half Jewish like Maple herself–but words on the page just don’t seem to make sense to her. Despite all Maple’s clever tricks to hide her troubles with reading, her teacher is on to her, and now Maple has to repeat fifth grade. Maple is devastated–what will her friends think? Will they forget about her? She uses her storytelling skills to convince her classmates that she’s staying back as a special teacher’s assistant (because of budget cuts, you know). But as Maple navigates the loss of old friendships, the possibility of new ones, and facing her reading challenges head-on, her deception becomes harder to keep up. Can Maple begin to recognize her own strengths, and to love herself–and her brain–just the way she is? Readers who have faced their own trials with school and friendships will enjoy this heartwarming story and its bright, creative heroine. Maple is in fifth grade–again. Now everyone will find out she struggles with reading–or will they? An engaging read for anyone who has ever felt different.
Two-Minute Drill By Mike Lupica
Brainy Scott, a great kicker who otherwise struggles with football, and star quarterback Chris, who has dyslexia, team up to help each other succeed in both football and school.
Fish In A Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt
Ally’s greatest fear is that everyone will find out she is as dumb as they think she is because she still doesn’t know how to read.
Check out the International Dyslexia Association for fact sheets, success stories, and more information about dyslexia.
~Gina Vaccaro, Head of Youth Services