This project provides children and families with books about special needs and features characters who are differently abled. In addition, parents will be provided with tips and strategies for sharing books with children who are differently abled, as well as questions and prompts to discuss special needs with children of all abilities. These books will be brought to schools across the US to support families with and without children with special needs to foster a more inclusive society.
Public and school libraries are lacking in children's books with characters with special needs. In order to create a more inclusive society, Raising A Reader has created a collection of books featuring differently abled children with dynamic storylines that engage all readers.
Raising A Reader's special book collection contains books that focus around differently abled characters across the spectrum. These stories allow children of all abilities to see themselves and others in the pages of the book. In addition, Raising A Reader created a menu of participation strategies on the inside cover of each book for parents of differently abled children who need assistance with books.
Each year RAR provides vital materials and support to more than 120,000 US families. By improving the language and literacy skills of children at risk of educational failure and strengthening parent-child relationships and family educational involvement, together we are moving the needle to improve child literacy across the country. RAR includes books that reflect both the broad diversity of the world and the specific cultures of the families that we serve.
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).