Children's books: Disabilities: "More Than What Eyes See", "I Spark Like Lightning", and "Tic-errific Me"

More Than What Eyes See by Miso Kwak, illustrated by Thaís Mesquita (Free Spirit Publishing)
I Spark Like Lightning by Jenna Elyse Johnson, illustrated by Sue Teodoro (Free Spirit Publishing)
Tic-errific Me by Alicia Meyers, illustrated by Cait Brennan (Free Spirit Publishing)

Back into the world of children's books...this time about disabilities!

In More Than What Eyes See, Maya is blind—but that doesn't stop her from doing, well, whatever she wants to do. The book takes young readers through some of the realities of being blind, from the irritation of being called "inspirational" for just existing to some of the sports designed for blind and vision-impaired players.

I think the best fits here are sighted young readers who know somebody who is blind and perhaps children who have recently lost or are likely to lose their sight—could also be one for kids born blind, of course, but some of this is informative in a way that not all kids with this lived experience would need. That said, it's a nicely empowering read that goes beyond just simple representation. I love Kwak's explanation at the end of why she opted not to include guide dogs in the book (the short version: they're not actually common, especially for young kids). There's also mention of several "brilliant blind people", and I can't tell you how delighted I was to realize that one of them is an acquaintance! Which is neither here nor there, I suppose, but it's proof positive that the book mentions contemporary, not just historical, people kids might look up to.

Simple but full-page, colorful illustrations complete the book. Obviously some kids with vision loss will be able to see all or some of the illustrations, while others won't; I'd be super curious to see a version of the book that took that into account, because I bet there are ways to make a textured storybook for kids who can't see the illustrations.

Meanwhile, Jen's brain sparks. Well, everyone's brain sparks, sending electricity through the body to connect mind and muscle. But in I Spark Like Lightning, we hear from a girl whose brain sometimes misfires, causing a seizure.

I read this as something of a follow-up to More Than What Eyes See, because I love that these books are helping to normalize disabilities for kids. Here, the book reinforces the point that Jen can do all the things other kids can (dance, swim, play), just sometimes with extra considerations. It also gently acknowledges some of the indignities that can come along with neurological differences, which seems like a useful conversation-starter for kids. I might have liked a little more detail (e.g., the difference between a tonic-clonic seizure and an absence seizure), but I think that's partly just me being terminally curious, and not having read many (or possibly any!) other books that discuss epilepsy in any detail.

The illustrations are simple but well done. The ones where we see Jen in dance class are probably my favorite, as they best convey a sense of movement, but in general they're soothing and bright (and the service dog looks like a floofball, which is nice).

And as a follow-up to both More Than What Eyes See and I Spark Like Lightning...Tic-errific Me! This one takes kids through some of what it means to have Tourette syndrome, which is characterized by uncontrollable vocal and motor tics.

When I think about Tourette syndrome I remember a classmate when I was a kid who had (I learned only later) Tourette syndrome. In elementary school I don't think kids really noticed, but in middle school he'd sometimes tic during tests (which makes sense in retrospect), and a couple of kids would get annoyed, and he'd try to make it a joke, and the teacher (who presumably knew more than we did about this all) would laugh with him and redirect the other kids. I'm not sure why that has stuck with me, but whenever I think about it now I think I hope his other teachers were also supportive and also I hope things got easier for him socially. I knew absolutely nothing about Tourette syndrome at the time, and I assume the same was true for most of our classmates. I don't know what would have changed if we'd known more, but I'm glad for books like this that give kids a little more information in a compassionate way.

Anyway. That was a long digression! I like that this book acknowledges the variety of tics that someone with Tourette syndrome might have, and that there are some things that can help but that at the end of the day tics aren't a choice. When the book mentions that lots of other people have Tourette syndrome, I did wish specific people had been mentioned (assuming that they're open about their condition, of course!), because I love a good rabbit hole and it would give interested kids more people to look up. The art isn't super interesting, but it's consistent and bright, and there's a cute illustration/game/strategy board included at the end.

Thanks to the authors and publisher for providing review copies through NetGalley.