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This list aims to help you to find early years books showing positive images of disability, as well as titles that may prove useful in discussing disability and diversity.

Discover books that celebrate diversity in the widest sense of the word with this Booktime booklet.

Includes tips for working with children who are visually impaired or deaf.

Helps parents and professionals to identify different types of books that might be particularly relevant to a child's specific needs.

Helps parents and professionals to identify different types of books that might be particularly relevant to a child’s specific needs.

Also available in large print.

Features 25 titles reflecting positive images of disability, and has proven popular with libraries, children’s centres and booksellers. 

Published September 2011, this report assesses the impact of the pilot programme for children in secondary school Year 7/8, which ran from July-December 2010. Sixty children aged 11-13 were enrolled across 11 local authorities in England, Northern Ireland and Wales. Funded by the Siobhan Dowd Trust www.siobhandowdtrust.com

Here are some activities that you may find appropriate for some children with additional needs.

Our What's the Story resources aim to draw on some of the many ideas and requests from disabled children and and their families, and to look at ways in which writers and illustrators can try to reflect them in their stories and images.  This resource includes some common pitfalls and how to avoid them in your next book.

This resource contains a collection of quotes and comments about children's books and disability. They include comments from young disabled people, their families and those who work with them.

The young people commented on the need for more books featuring positive images, and particularly for boosk to include a full spectrum of different forms of disability. It is clear that this is important both in terms of some disabled children seeking to find themselves in the characters they see in books, but also in terms of exposing non-disabled children to disability from an early age.

Although the main purpose of this resource was to collect views on how disability is depicted, a strong message also came through concerning the need for books to be more accessible to children with different needs. For example, young people voiced a particular need for more 'high interest' books for those who struggle with reading, to avoid such young people losing interest and being 'turned off' books.

This resource contains a collection of quotes and comments about society's attitude to disability. They include comments from young disabled people, their families and those who work with them.

This resource includes suggestions for representing disability in books for children and young people, including approaches which have rarely featured in children's books to date.

This resource comprises a range of comments about the school experience of young disabled people. They include the views and experiences of disabled people, their families and those who work with them.

Their stories illustrate a diverse range of experiences of school life, and they offer some very varied opinions. It is clear that their comments on this subject are extremely personal and subjective. They describe both negative and positive experiences of school, but together their feedback represents an insightful collection of comments which can surely help us to consider new ways to improve access and inclusion.

A wealth of children's book material is available to support classroom discussions around difference and disability. This resource presents just a few ideas, including books which may help develop awareness and understanding of specific impairments, books which can help promote positive attitudes to disability and books which are more generally about acceptance and respecting difference.