Illustrating disability in kids stories

I write stories for children that put disability front and centre. Why? Because when I published a nonfiction book on dwarfism I realised that there are so few kids books where the main character lives with a disability. So I decided to fill the gap. My first book for children is called IN MY WORLD.

It’s great that there’s now a book available for young kids where the hero/heroine lives with a disability. BUT it’s important to depict them in illustrations that do NOT belittle them. I was so pleased to meet artist Michele Moore who has the knack of drawing people realistically, but not so they look like photographs. I love the way she practised for her illustrations in my book IN MY WORLD.

Take a look at her sketches for the main character in my story ‘Basketball Tree’ – Here’s Sam who is short-statured (also known as a little person, or a dwarf) playing his favourite game of basketball.

The other story in IN MY WORLD is called ‘Wheels of Fire’ and here are Michele’s early sketches for that one.

THANKS Michele for your great work.