On the Ball for Autism

I wanted to share with my blog readers an exciting article about my new book series which was published in the Cambridge News. It was exciting to receive such support from the community. Here is the entire article:

A new book series designed to empower children with special needs has become a hit with readers.

The Happy Heads series, by Trumpington based American children’s author and illustrator Kelley Donner, made its debut two weeks ago, and has already topped Amazon’s Special Needs Children’s Health bestseller list.

The first book in the series, Ball! Ball! Ball!, tells the story of a lively young boy with autism, who speaks only a few words and has a fascination for round objects and discovering new things. The second book in the series, Little Jack Thomson’s Magnificent Brain, is set to be published in the autumn, with the third and fourth books in the series currently being illustrated.

Speaking to the News, Kelley Donner explained why these books were necessary, and why stories focusing on characters with special needs should always strive to do more than just raise awareness.

She said: “I started work on these books ten years ago, but since moving to the UK, I’ve had more time to focus on creating the stories. It’s my belief that every child has the right to see themselves represented in the books they read, but the standard approach to characters with learning difficulties is very problematic, if they’re represented at all. “Most books are solely about raising awareness of autism, or children on the autistic spectrum, and are centred on a character who doesn’t have that condition learning about them. It creates the “Rain Man” effect, and in many cases furthers pre-existing stereotypes, when there are a broad range of behaviours on the spectrum.”

Kelley explained how the Happy Heads series would correct this. She continued: “I wanted to tell more complex children’s stories about children with autism, where they aren’t defined by their disability. There’s little representation like this in the picture book market - I asked various groups on Twitter if anybody had any examples, and people were struggling to name any. “I want the characters in these books to be less perfect, so children can see themselves. I’ve had a positive response from the autistic community, and I would love to start visiting schools to share this story and the ones I have coming up with children.

“My next book, Little Jack Thomson’s Magnificent Brain, will be out later this year. The aim with that book is to challenge stereotypes surrounding Asperger’s, as all representation highlights the intelligent children with Asperger’s, ignoring the more diverse spectrum of people with that condition.”

Kelley will be reading and selling copies of her book at The Big Weekend's Big Read tent on Parker's Piece at 3:20pm on Saturday, July 6.

Ball! Ball! Ball! A Picture Book to Inspire Sensory Awareness is now available to order on Amazon. More information on the Happy Heads series can be found by visiting kelleydonner.com.

Written by Alistair Ryder

The Big Read - Cambridge

Story-time at local libraries and events is a wonderful way to connect with children and to see how they relate to your material.

This past week I got to read some of my books, including ones that I haven't published, yet, at an event called The Big Read in Cambridge. It was part of a big festival called Cambridge Weekend and I found out about it from the Society of Children's Book Writer's and Illustrators.

Although the weather didn't cooperate the whole day, it was a great day. I met a lot of other local author and illustrators, had fun with the children, and met many parents. I also found out that I am going to have to find a way to publish my book, Draw Me Happy, because the children loved being able to draw the illustrations directly in the book.

I look forward to doing more reading events in the future!

Sensory Fun at Bangabandhu Primary School

This week I visited Maddi Outram’s special education class at Bangabandhu Primary School in London. 

Maddi has been using my book Ball! Ball! Ball! for topic this term in her class. As many of her students are autistic and have sensory processing issues, Ball! Ball! Ball!  offered various possibilities for tie-in activities and sensory fun. Her students are between the ages of 5 and 9.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with my book: 

Ball! Ball! Ball!  is about an autistic boy named Tom who is obsessed with all things round and enthusiastically points out any object he can find that looks like a ball. From peas to balloons, Tom learns that “balls” can be smooth, squishy, pop, and even have different temperatures.

Maddi read my story to her class and then made various tie-in activities based on sensory play. She collected variations on all of the objects in the book, such as a rock, a round lamp, bubbles, etc. and placed them in a basket to be used as needed. 

Just as Tom is excited about the peas on his plate, Maddi made a table full of peas and let the children play and squish them as they wished. For science and physical education, they rolled and threw different balls. She even filled a trampoline with balloons and let the children jump in them. I think she is doing a wonderful job and it is clear that the children all really enjoy being in her class. I'm thrilled that my book is being used in such a positive way.

On the day I visited, we decided to do a sensory bag activity. I placed a round object, such as a ball, round Lego tire, marble, roll of tape, etc. into a bag and let each of the children feel the object with their hands. Many of the children wanted to see the object and take it out of the bag.

After this, I read Ball! Ball! Ball!  to the class again. One of the pupils who had been stimming with his hand in front of his face the entire time, stopped stimming for a little while. This made me happy, as this was the child that Maddi had told me loved balls more than anything. Another child sat very close to me and wanted to touch the page that I was reading. Although I received very little eye contact, I could tell that most of the students were listening and taking part in their own way. Having written a story about an autistic child, it was wonderful getting positive feedback from children who could directly relate to Tom's character.

Finally, we made a fabric collage together of a scene from outer space using a simplified version of the collage technique that I used for Ball! Ball! Ball! I brought pieces of scrap material and stencils and we glued the material onto a piece of poster board. The children needed some help with using scissors, but they all worked really hard and together we finished a nice piece of artwork. 

I really enjoyed visiting Maddi’s class and the staff at Bangabandhu Primary School were all very friendly and helpful. I love being an advocate for children with special needs and autism and I look forward to visiting more schools in the future. I am also planning on adding a lot of Maddi’s sensory activities to my webpage along with some ideas for sensory play so that other teachers can benefit from her creativity and dedication.

Ball! Ball! Ball!  is in the process of being published and will be available on Amazon in June of this year. The ISBN number is 978-1-73-395951-3. Please contact me if you would like to pre-order a copy and if you enjoy my books, please leave me a positive review on Amazon. Thank you.