Dyslexia

Learning to read is one of the first academic tasks of elementary school, and when a child is having difficulty with reading, it can negatively impact their sense of self and their feelings about school. By third grade, if a child does not have accommodations and other supports in place, their ability to learn in other subjects can also be affected. Because of this, many children receive testing and are diagnosed with dyslexia in early to mid-elementary school. Luckily, interventions are very effective, and children with dyslexia can and do grow up to become great readers and learners!

The books in this section do not specifically teach reading techniques, but rather, they help children value their creativity and strengths, destigmatize and normalize dyslexia and/or difficulty reading (many books do not use a specific diagnosis), and celebrate accommodations and alternative ways of communication and learning.

A note about terminology: Psychologists use the term “Specific Learning Disorder (SLD) With Impairment in Reading” rather than “dyslexia,” but the term dyslexia is still commonly used within and outside of the field. In fact, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder, 5th edition (DSM-5), which is the standard reference for psychological diagnoses, notes: “Dyslexia is an alternative term used to refer to a pattern of learning difficulties characterized by problems with accurate or fluent word recognition, poor decoding, and poor spelling abilities… It is important also to specify any additional difficulties that are present, such as difficulties with reading comprehension or math reasoning.” Furthermore, some people prefer the term “learning difference” to learning disability or learning disorder. Others strongly prefer learning disability. I have specified in the representation section of each review how a diagnosis is labeled, if at all.

Age range: 1st grade through 3rd grade.

Recommended for: This book features three children with learning disabilities in reading, writing, and math. It explains the concept of a learning disability and instills hope that with the right accommodations and lots of practice, a child “can do anything.” This book is a good read for a child who has recently been diagnosed with a learning disability and who will benefit from normalization and hope that accommodations will help them to learn.

Evidence-Based Practices: Psychoeducation

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Age range: 1st grade through 3rd grade.

Recommended for: This book is best for children who have recently gone through neuropsychological or psychoeducational testing and have been given a diagnosis of dyslexia. It normalizes the testing process, briefly explains the diagnosis, and shares about different accommodations that have helped the narrator improve his reading and better access his education. If a child is expressing confusion, worry, or shame about their diagnosis or recommended accommodations, this book could be a start to reassuring and clarifying conversations with a trusted adult.

Evidence-Based Practices: Psychoeducation

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Age range: 1st grade through 3rd grade.

Recommended for: This book is a great story, which happens to be co-written by California’s Governor Gavin Newsom, about a boy with dyslexia who loves baseball (loosely based on Newsom’s own experience as a child with dyslexia). It is also a story about having more in common with others than we realize and about never giving up. It’s a wonderful book for kids who think they are the only ones struggling to read (there’s a surprise twist in the story that disproves this), and it celebrates kids’ strengths. The publisher states that the book was written in a font specifically designed to be easier to read for people with dyslexia.

Evidence-Based Practices: Diaphragmatic Breathing, Psychoeducation

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Age range: 1st grade through 4th grade.

Recommended for: This book, written by an author with his own history of reading challenges, reframes reading slowly as “savor[ing] the story” and shares the author’s own journey from feeling ashamed of his reading speed, to feeling overwhelmed when books lost their pictures, to “enjoy[ing] the ride” once he became more comfortable reading at his own pace. This would be a great read for children who are feeling self-conscious or ashamed about reading more slowly than their peers and who need a reminder that reading quickly is not the point of reading.

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Age range: 1st grade through 4th grade.

Recommended for: This book is great for kids with dyslexia who have lost sight of their strengths and need a reminder that they, too, are brilliant (“bright and radiant…the opposite of dull”). This story celebrates teachers who see students’ strengths, and it highlights the importance of accommodations (in this book, a tape recorder) to help kids become “who [they] are meant to be.” The text is written in a dyslexia-friendly font (EasyReading).

Evidence-Based Practices: Psychoeducation

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Age range: Kindergarten through 3rd grade.

Recommended for: This story is a celebration of all means of storytelling (i.e., through art and verbal storytelling, in addition to reading and writing). It is an excellent book to read with any child who is struggling to read or write, regardless of diagnosis, who would benefit from a reminder that there are many ways to share one’s truth, and that with practice reading and writing will get easier too. It features a family with two moms and is written in a dyslexia-friendly font. It is available in Spanish and English.

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Age range: Kindergarten through 3rd grade.

Recommended for: This is a sweet, legitimately funny story about a grumpy rescue cat and a boy who doesn’t give up on him. It’s also a story about valuing the act of reading, no matter how one reads (slowly, quickly, out loud, etc.). The main character states that he has trouble with reading and that “words only make sense when I read them out loud slowly,” but no specific diagnoses are given, so this book could be a fun read for any child who is currently feeling challenged by reading. Lovers of grumpy cats and quirky rescue pets will particularly enjoy this book.

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