Writers with Disabilities Launch Understanding Disability, a Book Series on Disability for Kids

Easterseals, a nonprofit provider of services and advocacy for people with disabilities and their families, announces “Understanding Disability,” a book series targeted to young readers, written by people with disabilities and allies, in partnership with Cherry Lake Publishing Group.

The new book series explores disability in a comprehensive, honest, and age-appropriate way, with titles including “Disabilities and Relationships,” “Disability Etiquette,” “Disability Pride,” “Disability and the Media,” and more. Engaging inquiry-based sidebars throughout each title encourage readers to LOOK, THINK, MAKE A GUESS, ASK QUESTIONS, and CREATE.

“Understanding Disability opens the door for critical conversations about disability to young readers, and I couldn’t be more excited to share it with the world,” said Nicole Lynn Evans, author of several titles in the series, and a disability activist and actor. “I’m excited for these books to be in classrooms and homes, so that early learners can understand disability sooner and more comprehensively.”

Authors of the series include Nicole Lynn Evans, Erin Hawley, Jaxon Sydello, Beth Finke, and Tiernan Bertrand-Essington. Easterseals prioritized the hiring of writers with disabilities (the youngest of whom, Sydello, is 11 years old).

“At Easterseals, we’re striving to move the needle for inclusion and representation throughout all content that surrounds disability,” said Kendra E. Davenport, CEO, Easterseals. “This first-of-its-kind children’s book series on disability exposes a new demographic to key topics surrounding disability. We hope it reaches many homes and classrooms, so that it can shape young learners’ understanding of disability.”

“We’re thrilled about our partnership with Easterseals on the new series Understanding Disability,” said Ben Mondloch, CEO, Cherry Lake Publishing Group. “As a children’s publisher, we always strive to create titles which are inclusive of all backgrounds and abilities. We hope that books such as these will not only help kids better understand disabilities (both visible and invisible) but will also encourage everyone to become advocates for and allies to people with disabilities.”

The Understanding Disability series is targeted to readers in grades 3-5 and is available in print and digital formats.

[Source(s): Easterseals, PR Newswire]