Product Review: Rolling Along: The Story of Taylor and His Wheelchair [Hardcover] (Age 6+)
“My Wheelchair helps me to go More Places on my Own and Do more of the Things I want to do. Now Nothing Can Stop Me”~ Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago Learning Books
The older I get the increasingly aware I am of how fragile my body is versus what my mind thinks that I can do. Right before I turned 30, I painfully recall demonstrating my active version of the skank dance (based off the 1960s dance adaptation of the ska Jamaican music scene of the 50s) to both my husband and our good friend, Marcos, and I could not get out of bed the next day. Ouch! I don’t remembering it working like that when I was a teenager. I think the majority of us, surrounded by technological advances that feign super-human abilities, can forget how delicate we are and can put too much emphasis on our frail flesh and bone. I have had the good fortune of knowing some brilliant individuals who get many more daily reminders than I about their body’s limitations. I can only imagine having a disability like cerebral palsy which limits your body’s motor conditions and has no known cure. I can only imagine the frustration of using a technological device as a communication aid when your mind knows what words you want to say but your body won’t let you say them. I wanted to find a great book that would help try to explain the issues that kids with such disabilities, like cerebral palsy, face to a child who does not have one and that led me to find Rolling Along: The Story of Taylor and His Wheelchair.
Rolling Along: The Story of Taylor and His Wheelchair is about twin brothers and best friends, Taylor and Tyler. Taylor has cerebral palsy while his brother does not. The story focuses on Taylor’s excitement of getting a new wheelchair and goes into detail about all the wonderful things he can do (like popping wheelies!) with this new independence. The pictures of Tyler helping his brother do his leg stretches each day was very sweet, Rolling Along also discussed Taylor’s therapy sessions, going from a brace to a walker to a wheelchair and how he maneuvers around in his daily life. Although I do not have a child with cerebral palsy I could see how valuable this informative book could be to children (or their sibling) who have cerebral palsy. I found the words to be sensitive and interesting and found it to be a valuable read for children without a disability to get a better understanding of what it means on a daily basis for kids that do. I highly recommend!
Check out the rest of the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago Learning Books! The Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago boasts the largest source of information specific to people with physical disabilities. Check out their website and see the importance of their mission to keep people with disabilities informed and connected. The Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago Learning Books series is yet another avenue the Institute takes to help provide inspiration and insight for children with disabilities and I believe it provides awesome awareness to children without disabilities. This series is published by the lovely Peachtree Publishers (yes, for those counting, I have reviewed THREE of their children’s books so far because I just love them) and the entire pediatric series can be purchased through the Institute’s bookstore (see two other book examples from the series here).
Rolling Along: The Story of Taylor and His Wheelchair [Hardcover] (Age 6+)
List Price: $15.95 (Currently, $10.45 through Amazon.com)
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