Deaf Awareness Week
This year, Deaf Awareness Week takes place from 4 to 10 May.
This booklist includes children's books that feature deafness as a key theme, books with a deaf protagonist, and books that happen to include children with hearing aids and cochlear implants, in a subtle and natural way.
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Song for a Whale
Author: Lynne Kelly
Publisher: Piccadilly Press
Interest age: 8-12
Reading age: 8+A baleen whale's unique 55-hertz frequency means he cannot communicate with other whales, and 12-year-old Iris is determined to help him. A pacy story told with a tender touch, which also offers examples of common frustrations experienced by deaf children.
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Zoom, Zoom, Zoom!
Author: Annie Kubler
Publisher: Child's Play International Ltd
Interest age: 0-3
The blend of rhyme, repetition and alliteration is a recipe almost guaranteed to attract a toddler. This delightful board book combines all these elements, along with a rocket theme for added excitement.
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Harriet Versus the Galaxy
Author: Samantha Baines Illustrator: Jessica Flores
Publisher: Knights Of
Interest age: 6-11
Reading age: 7+When Harriet is hunting for her hearing aid under the bed, the last thing she expects to find is an alien. Soon, she is working alongside her gran to defend the human race. A highly accessible story, laced with lively illustrations and lots of laughs.
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Feeling Great
Author: Ailie Busby
Publisher: Child’s Play
Interest age: 1-2
One of the Just Like Me series, this colourful board book with flaps to lift encourages very young children to find out all about themselves and includes an inclusive cast.
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Max and the Millions
Author: Ross Montgomery
Publisher: Faber
Interest age: 8-11
Reading age: 8+When a school caretaker mysteriously disappears, leaving behind a small pile of sand, a student is drawn into an extraordinary adventure. Alongside the delightfully daft plot, Montgomery successfully touches on topics such as assumptions about deafness.
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The Silent Striker
Author: Pete Kalu
Publisher: Hope Road
Interest age: 13+
Reading age: 13+Marcus lives and breathes football. He might even have the makings of a professional player. But Marcus' life is about to change. Neither a book 'about' deafness or disability, nor another stock football story, this is an uplifting and accessible read.
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Fairy Magic
Author: Cerrie Burnell Illustrator: Laura Ellen Anderson
Publisher: Scholastic
Interest age: 4-6
Reading age: 6+Isabelle has discovered a fairy called Summer-Blue in a hidden magical world at the bottom of her garden... But will she be able to convince her brothers and sisters? A charming story about fairies, the changing seasons and a little girl who is deaf.
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Lucy: Loud and Clear
Author: Laila Lavan Illustrator: Beatriz Iglesias
Publisher: Topka
Interest age: 3+
Reading age: 5+Lucy is deaf and Omar is rather flippantly pretending he can't understand her request. Lucy has to be creative if she is to find a solution.
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Freddie and the Fairy
Author: Julia Donaldson Illustrator: Karen George
Publisher: Macmillan Children's Books
Interest age: 3+
Reading age: 6+Freddie rescues a fairy who offers to grant him his every wish. The only problem is that she can't hear very well, and so his wishes result in some unexpected surprises...
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Noo-Noos
Author: Carol Thompson
Publisher: Child's Play
Interest age: 1+
Reading age: 5+Every young child has a noo-noo. It’s that scruffy piece of well-loved fabric, fur, plastic or rubber, that goes everywhere with you...
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Ketchup Clouds
Author: Annabel Pitcher
Publisher: Indigo
Interest age: 14+
Reading age: 14+Fifteen-year-old Zoe attempts to come to terms with a dark secret by writing letters to a murderer awaiting execution on Death Row.
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Max the Champion
Author: Sean Stockdale and Alexandra Strick Illustrator: Ros Asquith
Publisher: Frances Lincoln
Interest age: 4+
Reading age: 5+This inclusive book is about a boy who loves sport, his friends, and school - and has a vivid imagination
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What the Jackdaw Saw
Author: Julia Donaldson Illustrator: Nick Sharratt
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
Interest age: 5+
Reading age: 6+A highly entertaining book with an inclusive cast of characters, providing an introduction to sign language to all children.
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River of Ink: Genesis
Author: Helen Dennis
Publisher: Hachette Children's Group
Interest age: 9-13
Reading age: 9+River Boy is washed up on the banks of the River Thames, unable to find his voice or memory. The only things he can draw on are his visions and mysterious symbols. An exciting first book in a trilogy.
