If you follow us on social media you have likely seen a spoiler alert that I recently shared. If you missed it, I don’t want you to be in the dark, here it is… (drumroll)
Last year shortly after we launched this site/blog I was perusing Amazon for some books to order for Cedar. I realized that there were very few children’s picture books that showcased photographs of children with Down Syndrome. In fact, there were only 3 that I could find, all are board books.
When I was a child, some of my favorite books were in an old series put out by Random House about farm animals and their children.
The books were lifestyle children’s books just following the experiences of children who had various farm animals. I think the reason these appealed to me was because I was a little girl who wasn’t being raised on a farm, but I sure did love animals.
A lightbulb went off and I began thinking through the process of creating a book where my son could see children that looked like him, with Down Syndrome, visiting a farm. The logistics of this weren’t easy, but with prayer and planning, a photo shoot happened and the book was completed.
What I cannot wait to share is that there is now one more book that we can read to our children that shows diversity and allows children with Down Syndrome to see others like them. My hope for the general population is that because the book has no mention of Down Syndrome in it, they will embrace it for what it is, a cute children’s book written with rhyme and cadence that shows just how much children with Down Syndrome are like any other child. I would love to see this read in classrooms as part of diversity awareness and to promote inclusion. There are 10 children pictured in the book and each shows the world how amazing those with Down Syndrome are.
These are all of my dreams of course, and the future of those is yet to be seen, but I will share that the book will be for sale on Amazon starting on March 21, 2018, WORLD DOWN SYNDROME DAY.
I would love for you all to order it, review it, and spread the word. Be sure you are signed up on our email list to get the latest news about the book launch and release as we get closer to March!
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