posted on 12 Oct 2016

Wheelchairs in picture books: sometimes you see them and sometimes you don’t

Richard Reiser is a well-known disability rights campaigner and educator who had Polio when he was a young child which left him with a lifelong disability. I listened to him speak at a conference many years ago and always remember him telling the story of how he had never seen a child that looked like him in a book other than the crippled little boy who gets left behind when the Pied Piper takes all the children into the Magic Mountain in the famous story based on the poem by Robert Browning. Rieser explained that this had compounded a feeling of difference and exclusion which we now understand can have a profoundly lifelong negative effect. It also means that that the invisibility of such children in mainstream literature can give a message that they are not important and valued to other children. Times have changed and there are now certainly more images of people with physical disabilities in the media, particularly in connection with the recent Paralympics. But what about representations of ordinary people doing their shopping, going to school and having fun? What about stories where the main protagonist just happens to wear a hearing aid or be a wheelchair user or need to go for regular visits to the physiotherapist without it being the main theme of the book? And are there sufficient representations of children from a range of Black and Minority Ethnic communities in this mix? Thankfully there are now many very good picture books being published that do all this very well but in my experience, they are not finding their way into nurseries and schools as quickly as they should. This may be because some of the good ones are published in USA and other countries and so they are not stocked by mainstream distributors.

The cover of a picture book will often provide a clue as to what is inside and I like the way that some portrayals of children using wheelchairs and other mobility aids on the cover of a book can give a very positive message about being active and independent. They can also convey the way in which any child’s imagination can take them anywhere. In terms of achieving a degree of social realism, it is also relevant to consider whether they portray up-to-date support equipment. For instance, wheelchairs are now often customized in bright colours and bear little resemblance to the traditional image of institutionalized versions. A good example is Happy Butterfly by Pippa Goodheart, illustrated by Lauren Tobia which is a story about an exciting event in a little girl’s life who wants to join in with a Caribbean Carnival parade, and her grandmother makes her wings to turn her into a butterfly on a float. This is not a story about wheelchairs but about a child who just happens to be a wheelchair user. It demonstrates that a wheelchair user can fully participate and enjoy in an ordinary community event.

I suppose that the very best inclusive picture books that include a positive portrayal of characters with disabilities are ones that don’t make a big fuss about it. In other words, the information about a condition is low key and incidental to the story.  Here is another reason to constantly be on the look-out for how illustrators embed references to disability as part of a ‘normal’ world view. Some picture book publishers, like Child’s Play are committed to doing this as part of their philosophy and regularly include children with hearing aids and walking frames along with some other recognisable characteristics in their books aimed at very young children. There has recently been pressure on the publishing industry by campaigns like ‘Everybody In’ to stop them regarding portrayal of disability as a ‘niche’ interest that isn’t a viable commercial concern. They argue that, on the contrary, there is a huge untapped market of parents, carers and professionals who would love to see a better range that is easily available.   

Mermaid by Cerrie Burrell, illustrated by Laura Ellen Anderson is written by the TV presenter, who famously experienced hostile reactions from some parents on social media when she first appeared on a CBeebies programme because she has one foreshortened arm. These parents seemed to be worried that her physical appearance might frighten their children and the furious backlash that followed which challenged these concerns is a very good example of why seeing disability in the mainstream media can help to shape attitudes.

Here she has written a charming story about a little boy called Luka who lives with his family by the sea, none of whom can swim, although he is the only one that seems to mind. One day he sees a little girl swimming in the sea and watches as she is then lifted out by her dad who helps her into her wheelchair which has beautifully decorated wheels. Her name is Sylvia, they become friends and she succeeds in teaching him how to swim. After they have said their goodbyes he has a vivid dream that she is really a mermaid and he is delighted to find that she is a new member of his class when he goes to school the next day. The last part of the story hints that he will help her to fit into her new environment to repay her for helping him to be confident in the sea. I really like this picture book because it emphasises how a child can help another to cope with unfamiliar challenges. It also gives the strong message that friendship is a key to adventures and imagination and that children with a physical disability are as complex and multi- talented as any other child.    

These picture books are not all easily available from mainstream suppliers but specialist distributors like Letterbox Library always carry a good variety with a disability related theme. With a little online research it is also possible to locate recommended book lists from BookTrust and many disability organisations. For instance, several years ago the charity Scope hosted a three year lottery funded project ' In the Picture' that looked at the dearth and limited availability of such picture books and the list of recommended picture books that emerged as a result is still available. Specialist organisations like Outside In World provide lists and information about children’s books from all over the world and these include some wonderful examples of picture books with disability related content. The campaigning organisation Inclusive Minds also include a wealth of reviews of recommended inclusive books. So there really is no excuse for not having a range of these picture books available to all children – teachers and librarians in particular please take note. 

Karen Argent

October 2016