A new traveling exhibit featuring international books for and about young people with disabilities makes its U.S. debut in the Worlds of Words Center in time to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The books in this exhibit show how children around the world can read independently, learn alongside their peers and enjoy all life has to offer.
“We are thrilled to see these books from the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY),” says Kathy Short, director of Worlds of Words and Regents Professor. “We have actively pursued the Outstanding Books for Young People with Disabilities exhibit for years and are pleased that the timing worked so that we could share these books alongside our national celebration of accessibility.”
Name your favorite tech innovation – touch screens, texting, video captioning – and chances are it resulted from the effort to make everyday activities accessible to people with disabilities. This is true for publishing too. Audiobooks are just one way to read inclusively. IBBY believes that all young people have the right to read in an accessible format and to see themselves represented in books regardless of their abilities.
The IBBY selection committee identified trends such as history and science books that allow children with disabilities to learn alongside their peers. Another trend is books with simplified content that makes reading easier. Books in this exhibit have multiple access points. They use enhanced print text, digital or audio content, braille, sign language, picture communication symbols and tactile illustrations. They lay flat, use high contrast colors, dyslexia-friendly fonts and easy-to-read formats.
One book featured in the exhibit, “I’d Really Like to Eat a Child” by Sylvianne Donnio, tells the relatable story of Achillies, a baby crocodile who is tired of his regular food. Mama and Papa say he is too small to eat a child and must first eat his other food to grow big and strong. This adapted version of an Italian picturebook uses Widget Symbols to help tell the story.
“Auntie Knits, I Wear” by Sevda Asado Namin (Iran) uses multiple access points to tell the story of a child visiting their blind aunt to play and bake cookies. Text is available in Farsi, English and braille with three-dimensional illustrations that can be manipulated. This cozy handmade book was created with great care to ensure that readers with vision loss, developmental disabilities and those who appreciate crafty aunts can enjoy it.
The selected books come from 24 countries and include portrayals of disability as varied as lived experience can be. The books are informative, heart-breaking, fun and zany. They depict the full spectrum of human emotion. Whether realistic or fantastical, romantic or nerdy, IBBY selected stories that are genuine and connect universally. In “Waking Ben Doldrums” by Heather Smith (Canada), the characters figure a way for a neighbor with depression to be included in the morning routine even when he can’t get out of bed.
“These books support growing understandings of the lives of children with disabilities around the world.” Short continues, “They are also enjoyable and encourage new ways of thinking.” She uses the example of a Japanese manga, “We Have Our Own Words” by EIRI, that shows how two boys, one hearing and one Deaf, learn to communicate in new ways in service to their favorite pastime – baseball, a game that already uses hand signs.
The IBBY Outstanding Books for Young People with Disabilities will be on display in the Worlds of Words Center through December 18, 2025. The center is free to visit and open to the public from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Mondays-Fridays and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays (excluding holidays and closures). For more information contact wow@arizona.edu. To schedule a field trip or guided tour, please complete our online request form.
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The International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) is a non-profit organization based in Basel, Switzerland that represents an international network of people from all over the world who are committed to bringing books and children together. Every two years the IBBY National Sections nominate books for young people with disabilities to be part of this collection. A selection of Outstanding Books is then made, and this selection is summarized in a catalogue. The 2025 Selection of Outstanding Books for Young People with Disabilities was formally launched at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair (March 31 through April 3, 2025). It traveled to Malaysia before arriving in Tucson.
- Themes: disability, Exhibits, International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY), Rebecca Ballenger
- Descriptors: WOW News