Rescue & Jessica: A Life-Changing Friendship, by Jessica Kensky and Patrick Downes

This book is based on the true story of Jessica Kensky, the book's author, who was injured in the Boston Marathon bombing and ended up losing both her legs.  The book does not discuss the bombing or initial injury (aside from in an author's note in the back), but does an amazing job of keeping this age appropriate yet pushing children to understand what it may be like to suffer such an injury.  Plus (at least in our family), books are about ten times more interesting when they are based on true stories and we've spent a lot of time examining a photo in the back of Jessica Kensky with her REAL LIFE DOG RESCUE!

What's best though, is that this is an engaging story.  Told alternatingly from Rescue and Jessica's point of view, it describes Rescue's training and relationship with Jessica and Jessica's rehabilitation and emotional struggle.  My son (newly 5, but we've been reading it for awhile) and I are entranced by this book and both recommend it highly!

BUY HERE (or request at your local library!)

Karate Hour, Soccer Hour, and Baseball Hour, all by Carol Nevius

This three book series is notable for its inclusivity and appealing to children who love sports.  All three books includes coaches and players of both genders and multiple races.  Karate Hour also includes a student using a walker (albeit just in the background in one photo).  The illustrations are realistic and gorgeous - the children look like your son or daughter's friends.

The books take children through practice (or class, in the case of Karate Hour) from beginning to end.  The prose is simple, descriptive, and rhyming, perhaps better for younger children - my 4 (nearly 5 year old) is a bit bored by the simplistic narration of what the children are doing, despite the fact that he is very athletic and takes similar classes himself.  However, if he encountered these books at age 2 or 3 I think he would have spent much longer pouring over them.

BUY SOCCER HOUR, BASEBALL HOUR, AND KARATE HOUR

(or request at your local library!)

We Are Family, by Patricia Hegarty

I typically don't like books without a plot, but this one is an exception.  It follows ten different types of families - two moms, two dads, parents with four children, a single mother and child, a child raised by his grandparents, and so on.  In addition, these families are made up of various races.  Our son was beyond delighted to find a family exactly the same as ours (a transracial adoption) and follow it through various activities and note the similarities - we also eat croissants! we all ride bikes! we like to cuddle on the sofa too, how did they know?!  If by chance your family is one of those pictured, I highly recommend this book.

BUY HERE (or request at your local library!)

Hello Goodbye Dog, by Maria Gianferrari

Zara, a biracial girl with a black mom and white dad, has a dog named Moose that won't stop following her to school!  As a solution, Moose attends therapy dog school and becomes the class reading dog.  Zara uses a wheelchair, a fact that is not referenced aside from once during Moose's therapy dog test - he's good at sitting, being with children, and (of course) being around wheelchairs.

This is perhaps the first book we've stumbled upon that features a child of color who has a disability (though hopefully there are many more we've yet to find), and I love that neither of those facts are central to this delightful story of a dog that misses his child and loves to be read to.  In addition, the book is pleasingly repetitive in a way that appeals to children.

  BUY HERE (or request at your local library!)