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While writing for an education nonprofit, I was introduced to the Windows and Mirrors learning framework. Established by educator Emily Style in 1988, it explains that children need two kinds of stories: stories that reflect their lived experiences (mirrors) and stories that introduce them to experiences different from their own (windows.)
I can’t think of a better way to explain why children’s books about autistic characters can change lives. They can help autistic children feel understood and connected to a wider community, and they can help allistic (non-autistic) children better empathize with the autistic experience. This is true year-round, but Autism Acceptance Month in April is an especially great opportunity to seek out books with autistic representation at your bookstore or library.
With a mix of picture books and middle grade fiction, these five children’s books all star autistic characters. Additionally, they are all written or co-written by autistic authors.
A Day with No Words by Tiffany Hammond
Written by autism advocate Tiffany Hammond, this picture book follows a day in the life of an autistic child named Aiden, who uses nonverbal communication. With the assistance of an AAC tablet, he and his mother go through their daily routine while navigating sensory overload and finding joy together despite judgment from strangers.
Flap Your Hands: A Celebration of Stimming by Steve Asbell
Author-illustrator Steve Asbell celebrates stimming—or repetitive movements that autistic people use to self-regulate and express strong feelings—in this joyful picture book. As four autistic children get overstimulated, they find ways to ground themselves through stimming.
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A Kind of Spark by Elle McNicoll
Eleven-year-old Addie is horrified to discover during a lesson at school that her Scottish town once burned witches. As an autistic girl, she knows what it is like to be misunderstood and is determined to memorialize them, even if she has to campaign against an obstinate city council.
The View from the Very Best House in Town by Meera Trehan
Asha and Sam are neurodivergent tweens who have been best friends for as long as they can remember. But when Sam is accepted to a private school, Asha has to navigate public school alone. Worse, Sam is hanging out with Asha’s bully Prestyn, who won’t even let Asha set foot on her family’s fancy estate on the highest hill in town. Could middle school get any worse?
Moonwalking by Zetta Elliott and Lyn Miller-Lachmann
Set in 1980s New York City, this novel in verse stars two boys: punk rocker JJ and math geek Pie, whose secret creative outlet is graffiti art. Over the seventh grade school year, they form a bond based on their shared love of art and feelings of being left out. In an author’s note, Elliot and Miller-Lachmann share that JJ is living with undiagnosed autism.
Need more book recs for the young readers in your life? Sign up for The Kids are All Right, a Book Riot newsletter that curates children’s lit and middle grade recommendations and delivers them right to your inbox. For YA and adult recommendations, visit Book Riot editor Danika Ellis’ article 7 Books By Auistic Authors for Autism Acceptance Month.
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