Rec: Alvin Ho books by Lenore Look
Nov. 14th, 2012 03:16 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sasha_feather posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
25book_pwdI am reading a series of books about Alvin Ho by Lenore Look. These are kids' chapter books for young grade school kids and they are GREAT. Delightfully illustrated by Leuyen Pham, they are funny, charming books about Alvin, his family, friends and adventures. There are 4 books so far, called things like "Alivn Ho: Allergic to Girls, School, and other Scary Things."
I picked them up from the library because I saw them on a list of books about disability. Alvin is "scared of everything" and he can't talk in school (he has selective mutism). The books take this problem seriously without heaping pity on him, indeed they find the humor in the situation. They are from Alvin's perspective, and he talks about his everyday challenges trying to make friends at school, getting into trouble with his siblings, etc. He has a PDK (personal disaster kit) made from an old tackle box and filled with band-aid, a compass, and hand-written instructions for surviving difficult situations. He has a good family including his dog and grandparents. (See the glossary in the back for definitions of gunggung, etc.) Alvin is American-born Chinese and his culture is also part of the story.
I have been recommending these books to everyone! They are super great! So far these are the first books I've read with a character who has selective mutism and they exceed my expectations.
x-posted to my own journal
I picked them up from the library because I saw them on a list of books about disability. Alvin is "scared of everything" and he can't talk in school (he has selective mutism). The books take this problem seriously without heaping pity on him, indeed they find the humor in the situation. They are from Alvin's perspective, and he talks about his everyday challenges trying to make friends at school, getting into trouble with his siblings, etc. He has a PDK (personal disaster kit) made from an old tackle box and filled with band-aid, a compass, and hand-written instructions for surviving difficult situations. He has a good family including his dog and grandparents. (See the glossary in the back for definitions of gunggung, etc.) Alvin is American-born Chinese and his culture is also part of the story.
I have been recommending these books to everyone! They are super great! So far these are the first books I've read with a character who has selective mutism and they exceed my expectations.
x-posted to my own journal
no subject
Date: 2012-11-15 12:09 am (UTC)For snotty folks like me who think, 'Why would I want to read a 3rd grade chapter book" let me slap you ever so metaphorically to say YES YOU DO! This book is what the world looks like when disability is natural. Unlike 100% of the disability books I read when I was looking for context as a kid, Lenore Look's books aren't centered on a particular impairment, or even on the experience of living with that impairment. They're about this very funny kid, and how he worries, and how he talks himself through worries, and sometimes fails.
no subject
Date: 2012-11-15 02:38 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-11-15 08:53 pm (UTC)