List

Neurodiverse Experiences: Grades K-2

By Skokie Staff Youth Services

Enjoy these books showcasing aspects of neurodiversity, autism, and sensory processing disorders. When possible, we focused on books created by authors and illustrators who identify as neurodivergent.

  • Flap Your Hands: A Celebration of Stimming

    2024 by Asbell, Steve

    Using blurred background illustrations to display dysregulation at the beginning of the book, readers see four neurodivergent kids use various stims (examples include vocal and movement stims) to regulate themselves. As the kids are able to use their stims to regulate, the background illustrations come into focus, showing readers how dysregulation affects the way you process your environment.

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  • Henry and the Something New

    2024 by Bailey, Jenn

    Henry's class is going on a field trip to the museum! While excited to see dinosaurs, Henry is also worried about how to navigate all the new things that will come with the trip.

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  • This Beach Is Loud!

    2019 by Cotterill, Samantha

    The first in the Little Senses picture book series, the author demonstrates how exciting and overwhelming visiting a new place can be. Readers will see various strategies the family uses to prepare for the trip.

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  • How Are You, Verity?

    2023 by Duff, Meghan Wilson

    Verity, a neurodivergent child, experiments with the question "How are you?" Is it a greeting or do people who ask actually want to know? While working to understand, Verity struggles with disappointment over a cancelled field trip.

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  • Too Much! An Overwhelming Day

    2023 by Gutiérrez, Jolene

    Drawing on the author's own experiences, this title tracks a child as a day becomes increasingly overstimulating, until the sensory overload leads to a meltdown. Readers can then see how the child is able to calm down, especially when returning home from an overwhelming school day.

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  • Harriet Hound

    2024 by Foster, Kate

    Harriet Hound is an eight-year old animal-loving superhero with autism. In three separate stories, Harriet uses her powers and her rescue animal friends to solve mysteries and help support her community.

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  • This Is My Brain! A Book on Neurodiversity

    2024 by Gravel, Elise

    This humorous illustrated nonfiction title introduces young readers to the brain, incorporating information about how the brain works and how brains work differently from one another, which leads to us experiencing things differently from one another.

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  • A Day with No Words

    2023 by Hammond, Tiffany

    This book follows an nonverbal child with autism who uses a tablet to communicate with others and his mother as they go through a normal day.

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  • Wiggles, Stomps, and Squeezes Calm My Jitters Down

    2021 by Parker, Lindsey Rowe

    See how certain activities and experiences can lead to "jitters" and that in order to calm themselves down, kids engage in stimming activities like tapping, hopping, humming, or squeezes from a family member.

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  • Talking Is Not My Thing

    2020 by Robbins, Rose

    Two siblings demonstrate all the ways they are able to communicate and interact with one another without needing to speak aloud.

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  • Bitsy Bat, School Star

    2023 by Windness, Kaz

    A young bat who is excited to start at a new school, Bitsy struggles to fit in and eventually experiences a meltdown from sensory overload. Working with her family, Bitsy is able to come up with a plan to adapt to the classroom and appreciate everyone's differences.

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