PUTTING DISABLED CHILDREN IN THE PICTURE: PROMOTING INCLUSIVE CHILDREN’S BOOKS AND MEDIA Nicole Matthew and Susan Clow

SUMMARY Where are all the disabled people in children’s picture books? This article will introduce an innovative three-year project, based in the United Kingdom, which asks this question of the book world. In The Picture, managed by disability charity Scope, aims to point out the invisibility of disabled people in children’s media to publishers, writers and illustrators. The project seeks to ensure that disabled children can find themselves represented in books and other children’s media. We will map out here the rationale for the project and what it has set out to do. Drawing on an initial evaluation of the project’s impact, which has involved interviews and focus group discussions with parents, librarians, teachers and children, we will go on to suggest what this kind of project can teach those of us working in early years settings about supporting inclusion and equality through children’s literature and media. We conclude, that there simply aren’t enough good, inclusive picture books in print. Everyone working in the early years sector can play a role in fostering a market for such books by alerting publishers and booksellers of the need for more of them, as well as actively seeking out those books that are in print for inclusion in their own libraries and nursery collections. We argue that rather than being offered information about “special” people in a separate library of non-fiction books, all children benefit from the casual inclusion of disabled characters as part of their everyday ‘diet’ of fiction. Finally, we suggest that the way in which books that represent disability are made available to children in early years settings requires some thinking, but need not generate such nervousness that it prevents action.

RÉSUMÉ Cet article présentera un projet innovateur de 3 ans, basé au Royaume Uni, qui pose cette question au monde littéraire. “In the Picture” (Voir le tableau), projet dirigé par l’organisation charitable Scope, a pour but d’attirer l’attention des éditeurs, des auteurs et des illustrateurs sur l’invisibilité des personnes en situation de handicap dans les médias pour enfants. Le projet cherche à garantir aux enfants handicapés qu’ils puissent se trouver représentés dans les livres, ainsi que dans tous les médias pour enfants. Nous élaberons ici le raisonnement et les objectifs du projet. En considérant les résultats d’une première exercice évaluative qui a engagé des parents, des bibliothécaires, des instituteurs et des enfants en entretiens et en groupes pour discuter l’impact du projet, nous continuerons à suggérer ce qu’on peut apprendre d’un tel projet, tous entre nous qui travaillons dans l’éducation des jeunes enfants, pour soutenir l’intégration et l’égalité par les moyens de la littérature et les médias pour enfants. En conclusion, nous constatons que, tout simplement, les bons livres illustrés non exclusifs ne sont pas suffisamment disponibles en librairie. Tous ceux qui travaillent dans l’éducation des jeunes enfants peuvent jouer un rôle à stimuler ce marché, en éveillant les éditeurs et les libraires à l’insuffisance de ces livres. En plus, ils doivent chercher activement les livres qui existent déjà en librairie pour fournir leurs propres bibliothèques et collections de maternelle. Nous soutenons que tous les enfants profitent de voir habituellement des caractères handicapés dans les livres d’histoires qu’ils lisent au quotidien, plutôt que dans une collection séparée, cherchant

65

66

International Journal of Early Childhood, Vol. 39, No. 2, 2007

à donner des informations sur les personnes “spéciales.” Finalement, nous suggérons qu’on doit bien considérer la façon dont les livres qui montrent l’invalidité sont offerts aux enfants à la maternelle, et que cette considération ne doit pas générer autant de nervosité que l’action collective soit empêchée.

RESUMEN ¿Dónde está la gente minusválida en los libros de dibujos para niños? Este articulo presenta un trabajo innovativo de tres años, localizado en el Reino Unido, que investiga este cuestión. Dirigido por Scope, una sociedad benéfica de minusvalidos, ‘In the Picture’ intenta indicar a los editoriales, autores e ilustradores lo invisible que son las personas con discapacidades en los medias de comunicación. El objetivo del proyecto es que los niños con discapacidades se encuentren ellos mismos en libros y otros medios infantiles. Aquí se describe la razón fundamental del proyecto y lo que se ha propuesto hacer. Después de una evaluación del impacto del proyecto, que consiste en entrevistas y foros consultativos entre niños, padres, bibliotecarios y profesores, seguimos a proponer una serie de recomendaciones a los que trabajan en contextos de menor edad para avanzar la igualdad e inclusión en los medios comunicativos de niños. Se concluye que no se publican suficientes libros de dibujos que contienen imágenes de los minusválidos. Todos los que trabajan en el sector de menores de edad podemos colaborar en desarrollar un mercado para aquellos libros, tanto con la denuncia de la falta de libros en las editoriales y librerías, como en buscar los ya publicados para aumentar sus propias colecciones. Se mantiene que, en lugar de presentar información sobre gente minusválida en secciones o bibliotecas apartadas, se debe incluir personajes con discapacidades en el curso cotidiano de las lecturas; ello puede beneficiar a la totalidad de los niños. Por ultimo, se sugiere que hace falta pensar en la manera de disponer de los libros que representan la incapacidad a los niños menores de edad, pero claramente no deberían producir inquietud, con imágenes poco gratas, que produzcan mas bien una inhibición de la acción.

KEYWORDS: books, disability, disabled people, representation, libraries

Where are all the disabled people in children’s picture books? This article will introduce an innovative three-year project, based in the United Kingdom, which asks this question of the book world. In The Picture, managed by disability charity Scope, aims to point out the invisibility of disabled people in children’s media to publishers, writers and illustrators. The project, part of Scope’s Time to Get Equal initiative, seeks to ensure that disabled children can find themselves represented in books and other children’s media. In the Picture has developed practical materials to support publishers, illustrators and writers, in the hope that they will go on to produce excellent, inclusive children’s books that will encourage, inform and inspire young people. We will map out here the rationale for the project and what it has set out to do. Drawing on an initial evaluation of the project’s impact, which has involved interviews and focus group discussions with parents, librarians, teachers and children, we will go on to suggest what this kind of project can teach those of us working in early years settings about supporting inclusion and equality through children’s literature and media.

Nicole Matthew & Susan Clow

67

INVISIBLE CHILDREN: THE CONTEXT FOR THE PROJECT Experience of working with disabled children and their families had highlighted, for Scope, the fact that disabled children were largely invisible in picture books for the early years. An important conference, entitled Invisible Children, had been hosted on this topic in the United Kingdom in 1995. Despite two publications and a number of useful recommendations emerging from this conference, the same issues of under and poor representation of disabled people in books for very young children continues to be evident in the new millennium. While many libraries and bookshops stock non-fiction information giving books aimed at non-disabled children, few stories for very young children are published that featured disabled children or adults, either as central protagonists or as incidental characters (Wagoner, 1984, 504-5; Favazza & Odom, 1997; Saunders, 2004). Those books that are published are often released by smaller publishing houses, sometimes in conjunction with charitable organisations; are often produced in limited numbers and are frequently out of print; and thus are often hard for bookshops, librarians, teachers and parents to obtain (Favazza et al., 2000; Walker, 2001, 10). Focus group discussions we have conducted with youth librarians have pointed out that while it is possible to track down and maintain lists of good examples of inclusive picture books, casual inclusion of images of disabled people in everyday children’s books would be a better solution to this lack of resources. As one librarian commented, “it would just be so much easier if mainstream books came out with images that reflected the real world”. Richard Rieser, in an article on using children’s literature to open up questions of disability in schools, summarises forcefully “there are not enough books and materials available” (Reiser & Mason, 1992, 110). British school children themselves, over two hundred of whom were consulted in 2006 as part of the Quentin Blake Award’s report Making Exclusion a Thing of the Past, resoundingly agreed: “there are simply not enough images of disability in books” (2006). The limited number of inclusive picture books available in bookshops, libraries and early years settings was not the only problem that In The Picture set out to address. As a number of writers have pointed out, children’s literature which does include disabled characters is by no means universally representative of real disabled children’s lives and experiences (e.g. Quicke, 1985; Pinsent, 1997). Just as in adult fiction, children’s books which include disabled characters frequently present a very limited set of images. Disabled people are often represented as tragic victims, as needy recipients of charity, as wholly defined by their impairments or differences – or as possessing saintlike or superhuman qualities. Often, rather than presenting disabled children as rounded characters in their own right, the story imagines them as one-dimensional, a metaphor for or enabling the development of another character (Barnes, 1992; Hevey, 1992; Harnett, 2000, Disability Studies Quarterly, 2004).

68

International Journal of Early Childhood, Vol. 39, No. 2, 2007

WHY INCLUDE DISABLED PEOPLE IN CHILDREN’S PICTURE BOOKS? When disabled children are absent from books and play materials, how does it make them feel and what messages are being given to children as a whole? (Lindon, 1998, p. 178).

But why are these absences, limitations and misrepresentations in children’s picture books a problem? Much of the research that has been done around the impact of young people’s fiction on children’s perceptions of disability has focussed on older readers (Burns, 1997; Nasatir & Horn, 2003). However, the work of Innes and Diamond, for example, has suggested that the early years are critical for promoting an understanding of disability (see also Brown 2001; Pirofski, 2002; Harvey cited in Trepanier-Street & Romatowski, 2003). Recent research suggests that children’s attitudes toward people with disabilities develop during the pre-school and early elementary years…the early childhood years may be a particularly fruitful time for teaching children about the diversity associated with disabilities (Innes & Diamond, 1999).

Favazza and colleagues, examining the impact of including books featuring disabled characters in pre-school story time, agree. Their research found that very young children, just like the older children, enjoy reading books including appropriate representations of disability and can learn positive attitudes towards disabled people from them (Favazza et al., 2000). Trepanier-Street and Romatowski (2003) found similarly that “the use of selected children’s books focussing on disabilities in combination with book-related activities can be an effective classroom strategy for promoting positive attitudes” (p. 49; see also Pirofski, 2002). Supporting these studies specifically about children’s responses to images of disability in books is a larger body of research around the impact of diverse and inclusive representations of gender and ethnicity in children’s books. Research on the effect of exposing children to books that reflect their real experiences of diversity has shown improved self image, community awareness and enhanced learning opportunities (Brown, 1998; Brown, 2001; Marriot cited in Saunders, 2004; Mendoza & Reese, 2001).

INSIDERS’ VIEWS: WHY INCLUSIVE BOOKS ARE NEEDED The small scale research we have conducted on the views of disabled adults and parents of disabled children strongly suggested the need for more inclusive children’s books. In preparing the ground for the In the Picture project bid, staff from Scope decided to carry out a mini survey of our own. Thirty eight parents of disabled children responded to our call for opinions about and experiences of disability in children’s books. We asked first of all if parents read to their children. Then we asked if they felt that children made sense of themselves

Nicole Matthew & Susan Clow

69

through the images they saw, and finally if they could find images of disabled children in picture books. Resoundingly the parents did read to their children, and felt their children did make sense of themselves from images they saw in books and no, they could not find those inclusive books. Interviews with both parents of disabled children and disabled participants conducted as part of the initial evaluation of In the Picture point towards some of the reasons why those motivated enough to become involved in the project thought more inclusive images in children’s books were needed. A number of parents stressed the importance of inclusive children’s stories, for example, in promoting integrated education at a pre-school and primary school level: ... inclusion in my daughter’s school in particular, will work with support but the school themselves have got to re-educate themselves and the teaching staff, and its an ongoing battle for me as a parent…it would be more acceptable within society if children with mixed abilities were represented in the likes of books… or within films. (parent of disabled child) if you’re going to have inclusion, these kids are growing up now, they’re learning more from their class than from… books. (parent of disabled child)

A number of respondents pointed out that picture books impact on not only young children but also their teachers, nursery nurses, parents and other carers. If you put the disability things into the mainstream – if you can get it into mainstream books… it hits home to the parents and they pass it onto the children. (disabled participant)

Many interviewees commented that inclusive stories could help both children and adults understand the experiences of disabled people and their families. In particular, stories were seen as a good way of enhancing non-disabled children and adults’ understanding of the experiences of people with ‘invisible’ or poorly understood impairments. [W]riting that story was…trying to get the kids and adults aware of what dyslexia is like. (disabled participant) It’s getting the message across from people who are actually living it. (parent of disabled children) A lot of the time it’s me that takes criticism of the children - I mean ‘You shouldn’t have kids if you can’t control them’ ‘He needs a slap’. (parent of disabled children)

Many young people, too, perceive the need for more inclusive children’s books. In 2005-6 the Roald Dahl Foundation funded a consultation with British schoolchildren, through the Quentin Blake Awards, about the representation of disability in children’s books. Nearly all disabled and non-disabled schoolchildren who were part of the consultation believed that including more

70

International Journal of Early Childhood, Vol. 39, No. 2, 2007

disabled characters in stories was important. Here is the summary by one head, for example, of the discussion by disabled children within his school of the absence of children like themselves in books: “The children felt that the message it sends to other people is that they are strange or different” (Bookmark, 2006). An individual student’s comments reflect the overall feedback from the series of consultative workshops: “There are not many books with deaf characters. This is sad because I want to see myself in books as hearing children do” (Bookmark, 2006). Many non-disabled children were part of the consultation and reported a number of reasons for wanting to see more inclusive stories, from realism to the celebration of diversity: Disabled people should be illustrated and included so that we grow up more familiar and aware of people’s differences (Bookmark, 2006). [Disabled people] should be treated like everyone else. People with disabilities are part of the world so should be shown in books (Bookmark, 2006).

THE TIMING OF THE PROJECT: WHY NOW? If the evidence of academic research, the experiences of disabled adults and children and the families of disabled people, suggested that it was vital to push the book world into action, the U.K. context of policy was also right for In the Picture. We were able to point out that disabled children are now visible in British society in the way that they were not twenty years ago and that this kind of project was urgently needed to support the UK government’s inclusion agenda. We wanted to show that the outcomes would also impact on UK government priorities to achieve an increase in the proportion of 0-5 year olds – our target audience – with normal levels of personal, social and emotional development. The project was timely in terms of national literacy initiatives involving children, like the current campaign that encourages parents to ”Talk to Your Baby”, and Bookstart, a scheme which distributes free books to all children at critical points in their early development, from six months of age onwards. The early years generally was beginning to be recognised in all sorts of ways as the building block for everything else, and where there was an opportunity to get practices right from the beginning.

IN THE PICTURE: AN OUTLINE OF THE PROJECT The project has been firmly based in the social model of disability from the outset. This concept which has been described as the disability movement’s big idea (see for example, Oliver, 1990; Morris, 1996; Barnes et al., 2002) has had a key influence on how In the Picture has developed. ‘Disability’ is often understood in everyday language as describing an individual’s bodily

Nicole Matthew & Susan Clow

71

impairment or difference. This understanding defines disability medically and looks towards individual medical interventions and treatments to overcome or ‘cure’ the ‘problem’ of disability. Kathy Saunders in her guide to using books to explain disability to children, Happy Ever Afters, describes the alternative perspective presented by the social model of disability. In this view ... ‘disability’ describes the social barriers which prevent equal opportunity… [and describes] a form of social oppression which can be overcome by social change (Saunders, 2000, p. 26).

Working with a representative steering group of disabled and non disabled people from the book world, the project acquired ten principles – drawn from the disability movement broadly, and borrowing many of their specifics from the recommendations of the Invisible Children conference ten years earlier. The ten principles were also informed by a number of ‘check-lists’ for appropriate representations of disability in children’s literature (see for instance, Saunders, 2000; Rieser & Mason, 1992; Nasatir & Horn, 2003).

TEN GUIDING PRINCIPLES The lives of all children will be enriched by disabled children being “in the picture” – it will help build understanding for all children and adults. The guiding principles of the whole In the Picture project focus on the Social Model of Disability. The guidance should be read alongside Scope’s Children’s Charter. 1. Books should be created with all children in mind, for all children to share and enjoy. 2. The point is not that disabled children should be the prime focus of stories or pictures: simply they should be there, a natural feature of every child’s landscape. 3. Images of disability should be the norm, in the same way as images of different ethnicities are now the norm. 4. Images of disabled children should be used casually or incidentally, so that disabled children are portrayed playing and doing things alongside their non disabled peers. 5. Disabled children should be portrayed as ordinary – and as complex – as other children, not one-dimensional. 6. Disabled children are equals and should be portrayed as equals – giving as well as receiving. 7. Disabled children should not be portrayed as objects of curiosity, sensationalised or endowed with superhuman attributes. 8. Stories should not have “happy ever after” plots that make the child’s attitude the problem.

72

International Journal of Early Childhood, Vol. 39, No. 2, 2007

9. It is society’s barriers that can keep disabled children from living full lives. 10. We should always remember that disabled children are children first and like all children have hopes and aspirations just like their peers. Note – Some of these statements have been adapted from the 1 in 8 Group, formed after the Invisible Children Conference and The Children’s Society “Understanding Disability and Language” These principles, with some further contextualisation, became some of the first materials to be mounted on the project’s website, along with a story book explanation of the Social Model, using illustrator Korky Paul and Valerie Thomas’s well-loved picture book Winnie the Witch. The project was conceived essentially as a practical resource to support the book world – publishers, agents, editors, illustrators and writers – all of whom lacked confidence in including disabled children in “the right way”. Reports from children’s publishers, writers and illustrators included in the Bookmark report Making Exclusion a Thing of the Past point out some of the barriers to the book world including disabled children. Some publishers feared that there was no demand for such books, while others had anxieties about being seen as excessively ‘politically correct’ or simply ‘ticking the right boxes’ (Bookmark, 2006). The project team decided to directly address such inevitable concerns about political correctness by including right from the outset a discussion of worries about being ‘PC’ in a FAQ on the website. The site also showcases the words of Jane Ray, a well known children’s illustrator who notes: I think part of the problem is that we are paralysed by the fear of causing offence, of somehow making it worse. But what could possibly be worse for a child than not being included, being ignored, having your very existence denied?

The project, then, aimed to provide a number of types of resources to the book world, from examples of inclusive stories, to personal advice and on-line FAQs about how to represent particular enabling technologies and environments accurately, to an image bank showing the creative and visually exciting ways that disabled children could be included in the picture.

PROJECT STRANDS: STORIES, IMAGES, GUIDANCE The project divided naturally into strands. One outcome of the pilot research with parents was the development of the Stories strand. This became a one year pilot community arts project in the North West of England, involving a partnership with Liverpool John Moores University. Story writing workshops were set up using professional facilitators working in groups with disabled people, parents of disabled children and children themselves, to create stories based on their own experiences and reflecting the social model perspective.

Nicole Matthew & Susan Clow

73

Three series of workshops and one stand-alone day session as part of a deaf and disability arts festival ultimately produced some twenty two stories. Alongside and following on from the writing workshops, seventy second and third year university students taking graphic arts and multimedia courses were briefed about the project and the social model, and invited to participate. Twenty students took the opportunity to engage with the project, meeting with participants in the writing workshops, receiving disability awareness training and trialling early drafts of the information for illustrators being developed from the website. Six illustrated children’s books, an interactive digital book and five short animated videos were made using stories emerging from the workshops, while other students developed games, animations and stories inspired by conversations with participants and the broader briefing for the project. Some of the best of this student work is now available on the website to point out to professional writers and illustrators and their publishers the creative possibilities of inclusive picture books. These examples of stories are just one element of the visual resource offered by the website. At the heart of the project is a bank of demonstration images intended to inform, inspire and encourage new ways of including disabled characters in commercial children’s books. Each image is designed to say something different. Many images take on subjects that have never before been attempted – for instance, a cartoon of a little girl playing with blocks and books, her oxygen line and wheelchair visible in the background; or a group of children, one with a walking frame, standing triumphantly at the top of a hill, relishing the wind in their hair. The text linked to each picture in the image bank provides further information and advice for illustrators to follow up. These pictures also aim to inspire writers of picture books to think of new, inclusive story lines.

THE IMPACT ON THE BOOK WORLD SO FAR Supported by general guidance and enhanced by the opportunity to consult project staff personally, In The Picture’s effects are already being felt. A number of well known children’s writers and illustrators, including Quentin Blake, Jacqui Wilson and Tony Ross, have lent support to the principles of the project. Librarians who participated in a focus group discussion around the project have emphasised the importance of persuading best selling authors like these to include disabled characters in their stories. Such big names, they argued, persuade publishers that fiction including disabled characters will sell. Since the project’s website was launched in some months ahead of schedule in January 2006, it has been a fruitful method of capturing opinion and evaluating effectiveness. Through the guest book and the children’s art gallery, the website has become a means of involving anyone who has an interest in the project, from child to parent to famous writer. The invitation to supporters to subscribe to the ten principles has provided a long list of endorsements that has

74

International Journal of Early Childhood, Vol. 39, No. 2, 2007

also served to demonstrate to any sceptics that there is both a market for inclusive books for the early years, as well as a moral imperative to develop them. The guest book and the list of supporters have also shown the enormous international interest there is in this topic. People the USA, Nigeria and Denmark have signed up to the ten principles, while our website referrer has told us that readers of the site have come from an even further afield. Illustrators from the US and from India have already been in contact with project staff. Information on the website has made its way to Australia and the site itself has been translated into Spanish and Russian. The project has already had some visible impact on published books. Even after only one year, picture books are now in print, which include drawings of disabled children developed in consultation with the project team. Many British publishing houses have sent representatives to the first conference hosted by the project in London in October 2006. The project is only a third of the way through but there are strong suggestions that it will have a profound impact and not only in children’s literature. In The Picture has also reached, for example, design staff at a museum, prompting them to include a child who uses a wheelchair amongst the group of cartoon characters promoting the museum to young people. Elsewhere, In the Picture has also reached librarians and others working in early years setting, and has started to impact on organisations wanting to generate an inclusive message in their general publicity. This book world is not a fast moving one, however, and we will need to wait until the end of the project to get a full sense of the impact of this resource.

SHAPING THE FUTURE OF PICTURE BOOKS: THE IMPACT ON STUDENT ILLUSTRATORS

While the long term influence of In The Picture on its primary target – publishers, editors, professional children’s writers and illustrators – is yet to be seen, a preliminary evaluation has been conducted on the one-year Stories strand and its effect on the writers, illustrators and young readers of these inclusive stories. This evaluation has involved participant observation, analysis of stories and reflective documents, interviews with over twenty participants in the project, three focus group discussions with librarians and early years workers and four workshops with children and young people. Because the graphic arts students who took part in the stories strand, in particular, may well be the professional illustrators of the future, the conclusions of this evaluation suggest some of ways In the Picture might impact on the publishing industry more broadly. Despite tensions and initial anxieties about offending disabled people and generally ‘getting it right’, most student respondents signalled that involvement in the project had prompted them to reevaluate their working practices and views on disability.

Nicole Matthew & Susan Clow

75

I hadn’t thought about drawing anybody with a disability before this I guess. So I suppose it has made me think about including them in things in the future. (illustration student) ... speaking to the parents of the autistic kids… that was a real eye opener…That was really interesting because maybe I was a bit ignorant before and it was really interesting to pick up their stories. (graphics student) ... when you’re drawing when you’re a kid or adult or whatever, we were always told… make sure that you’ve not just got all white people for example, blond hair, white people, you know put all different sorts in… stick disabled people in as well but obviously not as a separate thing, just as part of the group or whatever, just as a normal thing. (illustration student)

For the multimedia students who came to devise interactive books and inclusive animations as part of the project, engagement with the brief prompted consideration not just of how to include representation of disabled people in their work, but also of questions of accessibility. Participating in this project has made me think about accessibility issues. I will in the future, make my work accessible to people with limited sight/hearing and to people with cognitive impairments. (multimedia student) I think it’s important definitely that we should, cos you’re aiming your website at as many people as you can, aren’t you. (multimedia student)

As well as reflecting on the way they intended to produce inclusive work in their future professional practice, some students commented that involvement in the project had already shaped the kind of work they had produced for other modules. Actually with the next project that I did, it was for kids as well but it was healthy eating and in some of the drawings that I was doing, … because it just showed kids eating and stuff, [I thought] maybe I should put someone disabled in. (illustration student)

It seems, then, that the Stories strand of In the Picture has been successful in raising awareness of inclusion in people who may be the children’s illustrators of the future. This success has prompted two further British universities to incorporate projects based around In the Picture’s aims and resources into their graphic arts degrees during 2006-7. Ultimately, we hope that teaching resources will be developed to encourage illustration programmes across the UK to include questions of disability and representation in their degree courses.

76

International Journal of Early Childhood, Vol. 39, No. 2, 2007

WHAT NEXT FOR INCLUSIVE PICTURE BOOKS IN THE EARLY YEARS? If In the Picture seems set to make incremental changes to the publishing industry, what clues should early years professionals draw from the project while waiting for the further changes in book world? Firstly, children, disabled adults and parents, librarians and academic researchers agree that there simply aren’t enough good, inclusive picture books in print. Everyone working in the early years sector can play a role in fostering a market for such books by alerting publishers and booksellers of the need for more of them, as well as actively seeking out those books that are in print for inclusion in their own libraries and nursery collections. There are some readily available children’s books that can be immensely useful in promoting diversity and inclusion in early years settings. Kathy Saunders’ book Happy Ever Afters (2000) provides an excellent guide both to books that include disabled characters and others well-known picture books – for instance Winnie the Witch or the Elmer books – that can be used to prompt discussions of disability with young children. The ten principles of the In the Picture project can be used as one way of identifying and selecting the kinds of picture books that might be particularly beneficial in promoting inclusion for young children. Secondly, the way in which books that represent disability are made available to children in early years settings requires some thinking, but need not generate such nervousness that it prevents action. Our focus groups with librarians and other early years practitioners points out that existing inclusive picture books can readily be included, for example, in regular story-reading events for babies and toddlers, as well as pre-schoolers. It is important that books that include disabled children are not flagged up as “special”, or only of interest to disabled children themselves. As Saunders points out, in fact, many of the most popular children’s media – the film Shrek or Finding Nemo, for example – include central characters who might be viewed as disabled (Saunders, 2004). One of the In the Picture principles has been to promote the casual inclusion of disabled people simply as part of an overall picture of diversity in children’s books. This principle has resonated with the views of disabled people and their families uncovered in both our own research and other recent work. Many disabled children, rather than being singled out as “special” would prefer to “fade into the crowd more” (Bookmark, 2006). Young audiences are not turned off stories by the inclusion of disabled characters, but by the disappearance of exciting storylines and images in preference to books that aim to pass on information about such “special” characters. I won’t pick up a book about people in wheelchairs because it is full of boring facts but if a book was about for example a person who won a swimming competition I would pick it up and read it because it looked interesting (School-aged respondent, Bookmark, 2006).

Nicole Matthew & Susan Clow

77

As one youth librarian we interviewed commented, if disabled children are searching for representations of themselves and their experiences, they, their parents or carers will be certain pick out a single character or a small detail in, for example, a busy playground scene. Others will benefit from having such representations included in an everyday way as part of their everyday ‘diet’ of stories and images. Indeed, the research literature suggests that children’s books are only really helpful in promoting inclusive education when they disabled and non-disabled children together (Monson & Shurlett cited in Pirofski, 2002). Similarly, while it may be useful for library staff, for example, to be made aware of the inclusive picture books in their collection in case of specific queries, it is important not to separate such books into a particular section of the library. As one participant in a focus group pointed out wryly, a non-fiction story entitled “Don’t Call Me Special” was shelved, in her own workplace, in a special section! Ultimately, for In the Picture to be successful in making the experiences of disabled children “as ordinary – and as complex” as those of other children, early years practitioners, as much as the book world itself, have a critical role to play.

REFERENCES Barnes, Colin, Oliver, Mike & Barton, Len (eds.) (2002). Disability Studies Today, Cambridge: Polity. Barnes, Colin (1992). Disabling Imagery and the media, Ryburn Publishing. Bookmark (2006). Quentin Blake Award Project Report: Making Exclusion a Thing of the Past. The Roald Dahl Foundation. Brown, Babette (2001). Combating discrimination: Persona Dolls in Action. Trentham Books.

Brown, Babette (1998). Unlearning Discrimination in the Early Years. Trentham Books. Burns, H.E. (1997) “Disability in Teenage Fiction: a critical evaluation” from New Review of Children’s literature and librarianship, Vol.3, pp. 39-51. The Children’s Society (n.d.) Understanding Disability and Language, Retrieved September 29, 2006, from http://www.the-childrens-society.org.uk/media/pdf/Disability26405.pdf#search=%22children’s %20society%20language%20and%20disability%22 Disability Studies Quarterly, Winter 2004, Vol 24, No.1. Favazza, P., La Roe, J., Phillipsen, L. & Kumar, P. (2000). “Representing young children with disabilities in classroom environments.” Young Exceptional Children, 3(3), 2-8. Favazza, P.C. & Odom, S.I. (1997). “Promoting positive attitudes of kindergarten-age children towards people with disabilities.” Exceptional Children, 63, 405-18. Harnett, Alison (2000). “Escaping the ‘evil avenger’ and the ‘supercrip’: Image of disability in popular television”, from Irish Communications Review, Vol.8. Hevey, David (1992). The creatures time forgot: photography and disability imagery. London: Routledge. Innes, Fiona K. & Karen E. Diamond (1999). ”Typically Developing Children’s Interactions with Peers with Disabilities: Relationships Between Mothers’ Comments and Children’s Ideas About Disabilities.” Pre-school Education, Summer 1999. Keith, Lois (2001). Take up thy bed and walk: death, disability and cure in classic fiction for girls. London: The Women’s Press. Lindon, Jennie (1998). Equal Opportunities in Practice. Hodder and Stoughton. Mendoza & Reese (2001) ”Examining multicultural picture books for the early childhood classroom: possibilities and pitfalls.” Early Childhood Research and Practice, Fall 2001, Vol 3, No 2.

78

International Journal of Early Childhood, Vol. 39, No. 2, 2007

Morris, Jenny (ed.) (1996). Encounters with Strangers: Feminism and Disability. London: The Women’s Press. Nasatir, D & Horn, E. (2003). “Addressing disability as a part of diversity through classroom children’s literature.” Young Exceptional Children, Vol. 5, No.4. Oliver, Mike (1990). The Politics of Disablement. London: Macmillan. Pinsent, Pat (1997). Children’s Literature and the Politics of Equality. London: David Fulton Publishers. Pirofski, Kira (2002). “Strategies for fostering able-bodied children’s acceptance of disabled peers” from Project Appleseed: the national campaign for public school improvement, Internet http://www.projectappleseed.org./aaceptance.html. Quicke, J. (1985). Disability in modern children’s fiction. Cambridge, MA: Brookline Books. Rieser, Richard & Micheline Mason (1992). Disability Equality in the Classroom: A Human Rights Issue. A Disability Education Handbook. Sancho, Jane (2003). Disabling Prejudice – Attitudes towards disability and its portrayal on television. Commissioned by the British Broadcasting Commission, the Broadcasting Standards Commission and the Independent Television Commission. Saunders, Kathy (2000). Happy Ever Afters: a storybook guide to teaching children about disability, London, Trenton Books. Saunders, Kathy (2004). “What Disability Studies Can do for Children’s Literature” from Disability Studies Quarterly, Vol 24, No.1, Winter. Smith-D’Arezzo, Wendy M. (2003). “Diversity in Children’s Literature: Not Just a Black and White Issue.” Children’s Literature in Education, Vol. 34, No.1, March. Special issue on children’s literature and disability, British Section IBBY Newsletter, November, 2001. Trepanier-Street, Mary & Romatowski, Jane (1996). “Young Children’s Attitudes Toward the Disabled: A Classroom Intervention Using Children’s Literature.” Early Childhood Education Journal, Vol. 24, No.1. Wagoner, Shirley (1984). “The portrayal of the cognitively disabled in children’s literature.” The Reading Teacher, Vol.37, Feb. Walker, Isobel (2001). “The representation of disabled characters in selected children’s fiction” from IBBY British Section Newsletter, November.

Correspondence about this paper should be addressed to: Nicole Matthews [email protected] Media/Critical and Cultural Studies, SCMP, Macquarie University, NSW Australia, 2109.