This holiday season, families looking for children’s books can find a variety of choices that feature disability as part of everyday life.
Teaching for Change, a nonprofit that runs the Social Justice Books project, curates a reading list used by educators and librarians aimed at representation.
Highlighting disabilities helps children understand the world around them, supports empathy and gives children with disabilities opportunities to see themselves in stories, according to Social Justice Books.
Holiday book-buying is in full swing, but these works pass along lessons that are timeless. Here’s a selection from the list of disability-themed books for children, sorted by reading level.
Picture books and early readers (pre-K to second grade)
Grades 2 to 5
Grades 4 to 8
The complete list, including dozens of recommended titles, is available at socialjusticebooks.org/booklists/disabilities.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: These children’s books show disability as a part of everyday life
Reporting by Gene Myers, NorthJersey.com / NorthJersey.com
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect


