Portrayals of Disabilities in Picturebooks with the Schneider Family Award
Main Article Content
Keywords
DISABILITIES, picture books, Intersectionality
Abstract
This study analyzed how disabilities are portrayed in picturebooks with the Schneider Family Award that focuses on disability portrayals. It explored how characters are positioned in multiple categories such as (dis)ability, race/ethnicity, gender, class, age, and language based on the DisCrit perspectives.
References
Alexander, C. (2012). Back to front and upside down! (C. Alexander, Illus.). Eerdmans Books for Young Readers.
American Library Association (2020). Schneider Family Book Award. http://www.ala.org/awardsgrants/schneider-family-book-award
Annamma, S. A., Ferri, B. A., & Connor, D. J. (2018). Disability critical race theory: Exploring the intersectional lineage, emergence, and potential futures of DisCrit in Education. Review of Research in Education, 42, 46-71.
Bailey, J. (2019). A friend for Henry (M. Song, Illus.). Chronicle Books.
Bell, C. (2006). Introducing white disability studies: A modest proposal. In L. J. Davis (Ed.), The disability studies reader (pp. 275-82). Routledge.
Bertrand, D. G. (2008). My pal Victor: Mi amigo Victor (R. Sweetland, Illus.). Raven Tree Press.
Bérubé, M. (1998). Life as we know it: A father, a daily, and an exceptional child. Vintage.
Bérubé, M. (2016a). Life as Jamie knows it: An exceptional child grows up. Beacon Press.
Bérubé, M. (2016b). The secret life of stories: From Don Quixote to Harry Potter, how understanding intellectual disability transformed the way we read. New York University Press.
Bishop, R. S. (1997). Selecting literature for a multicultural classroom. In V. J. Harris (Ed.), Using multiethnic literature in the K-8 classroom (pp. 1-19). ChristopherGordon.
Bittner, R., & Superle, M. (2016). The last bastion of aesthetics?: Formalism and the rhetoric of excellence in children’s literary awards. In K. B. Kidd & J. T. Thomas Jr. (Eds.), Prizing children’s literature: The cultural politics of children’s book awards (pp. 73-86). Routledge.
Botelho, M. J., & Rudman, M. K. (2009). Critical multicultural analysis of children’s literature: Mirrors, windows, and doors. Routledge.
Brah, A., & Phoenix, A. (2004). Ain’t I a woman? Revisiting intersectionality. Journal of International Women’s Studies, 5(3), 75-86.
Bryant, J. (2013). A splash of red: The life and art of Horace Pippin (M. Sweet, Illus.). Knopf Books for Young Readers.
Bryant, J. (2016). Six dots: A story of young Louis Braille (B. Kulikov, Illus.). Knopf Books for Young Readers.
Causarano, A. (2021). Children’s books, disability and reader’s response: A critical analysis. The Reading Matrix: An International Online Journal, 21(1), 27-37.
Chafel, J. A., Flint, A. S., Hammel, J., & Pomeroy, K. H. (2007). Young children, social issues, and critical literacy: Stories of teachers and researchers. Young Children, 62(1), 73-81.
Christensen, A., & Jensen, S. Q. (2012). Doing intersectional analysis: Methodological implications for qualitative research. Nordic Journal of Feminist and Gender Research, 20(2), 109-125. https://doi.irg/https://doi.org/10.1080/08038740.2012.673505
Christensen, B. (2011). Django (B. Christensen, Illus.). Flashpoint.
Collins, P. H. (2015). Intersectionality’s definitional dilemmas. Annual Review of Sociology, 41, 1-20. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-soc-073014-112142
Crenshaw, K. (1989). Demarginalizing the intersection of race and sex: A black feminist critique of antidiscrimination doctrine, feminist theory and antiracist politics. University of Chicago Legal Forum, 1, Article 8, 139-167. https://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1052&context=uclf
Crenshaw, K. (1991). Mapping the margins: Intersectionality, identity politics, and violence against women of color. Stanford Law Review, 43(6), 1241-1299.
Cummins, J. (2016). The still almost all-white world of children’s literature: Theory, practice, and identity-based children’s book awards. In K. B. Kidd & J. T. Thomas Jr. (Eds.), Prizing children’s literature: The cultural politics of children’s book awards (pp. 87-103). Routledge.
Curwood, J. S. (2013). Redefining normal: A critical analysis of (dis)ability in young adult literature. Children’s Literature in Education, 44, 15-28.
Davis, K. (2020). Who owns intersectionality? Some reflections on feminist debates on how theories travel. European Journal of Women’s Studies, 27(2), 113-127.
Davis, L. J. (1995). Enforcing normalcy: Disability, deafness, and the body. Verso.
Dyches, T. T., & Prater, M. A. (2000). Developmental disability in children’s literature: Issues and annotated bibliography. PRISM Series. Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities Division of the Council for Exceptional Children.
Dyches, T., Prater, M.A., & Jenson, J. (2006). Portrayal of disabilities in Caldecott books. Teaching Exceptional Children Plus, 2(5). Retrieved from http://hdl.lib.byu.edu/1877/3468
Estreich, G. (2011). The shape of the eye: Down Syndrome, family and the stories we inherit. Southern Methodist UP.
Fang, Z. (1996). Illustrations, text, and the child reader: What are pictures in children’s storybooks for?. Reading Horizons, 37(2), 130-142.
Faulkner, S. L., & Trotter, S. P. (2017). Data saturation. In J. Matthes, C. S. Davis, & R. F. Potter (Eds.), The international encyclopedia of communication research methods (pp. 1-2). Hoboken: NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
Garland-Thomson, R. (2002). Integrating disability, transforming feminist theory. NWSA Journal, 14(3), 1-32.
Garland-Thomson, R. (2019). Introduction. In P. Catapano & Garland-Thomson, R. (Eds.), About us: Essays from the disability series of the New York Times (pp. xxiii-xxxiii). Liveright.
Goethals, T., De Schauwer, E., & Van Hove, G. (2015). Weaving intersectionality into disability studies research: Inclusion, reflexivity and anti-essentialism. Journal of Diversity and Gender Studies, 2(1-2), 75-94.
Hooks, B. (1984). Feminist theory: From margin to center. South End Press.
International Board on Books for Young People (2020, March). IBBY collection of books for young people with disabilities. Retrieved from https://www.ibby.org/awards-activities/activities/ibby-collection-of-books-for-young-people-with-disabilities
Jarman, M. (2013). Entanglements of disability, ethnicity, and relations: Orienting toward belonging in George Estreich’s The Shape of the Eye. The Journal of American Culture, 36(3), 194-205.
Kensky, J., & Downes, P. (2018). Rescue & Jessica: A life-changing friendship (S. Magoon, Illus.). Candlewick.
Kibler, J. (1996). Latino voices in children’s literature: Instructional approaches for developing cultural understanding in the classroom (pp. 239-268). In J. LeBlanc Flores (Ed.), Children of la frontera: Binational efforts to serve Mexican migrant and immigrant students. ERIC Clearinghouse on Rural and Small Schools.
Kupupika, T. (2021). Shaping our freedom dreams: Reclaiming intersectionality through Black feminist legal theory. Virginia Law Review Online, 107, 27-47.
Lang, G. (2003). Looking out for Sarah (G. Lang, Illus.). Charlesbridge.
Leininger, M., Dyches, T.T., Prater, M.A., & Heath, M.A. (2010). Newbery award winning books 1975–2009: How do they portray disabilities?. Education and Training in Autism and Developmental Disabilities, 45(4), 583–596.
Li, H. (2019). The right to be frivolous? An intersectional analysis of gendered harassment. Educational Theory, 69, 55-72.
Lynch-Brown, C. (1993). Essentials of children’s literature. Allyn-Bacon.
Lyon, G. E. (2010). The pirate of Kindergarten (L. Avril, Illus.). Atheneum Books for Young Readers.
Martinez, M., Koss, M. D., & Johnson, N. J. (2016). Meeting characters in Caldecotts: What does this mean for today’s readers? The Reading Teacher, 70(1), 19-28.
Mitchell, D. T., & Snyder, S. L. (2015). The biopolitics of disability: Neoliberalism, ablenationalism, and peripheral embodiment. University of Michigan Press.
Morgan, K. P. (1996). Describing the emperor’s new clothes: Three myths of educational in(equality). In A. Diller, B. Houston, K. P. Morgan, M. Ayim (Eds.), The gender question in education, theory, pedagogy, and politics (pp. 105-122). Westview.
Mo, W., & Shen, W. (1997). Reexamining the issue of authenticity in picture books. Children’s Literature in Education, 28(2), 85-93.
National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities. (2012, November). IDEA: The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Retrieved October 27, 2012, Retrieved from https://www.parentcenterhub.org/wp-content/uploads/repo_items/gr3.pdf
Nodelman, P. (1988). Words about pictures: The narrative art of children’s picture books. The University of Georgia Press.
Nodelman, P. (1992). The other: Orientalism, colonialism, and children’s literature, Children’s Literature Association Quarterly, 17(1), 29-35.
Nodelman, P. (1999). Decoding the images: Illustration and picture books. In P. Hung (Ed.). Understanding children’s literature (pp. 69-80). Routledge.
Nodelman, P. (2008). The hidden adult: Defining children’s literature. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Oliveros, J. (2018). The remember balloons (D. Wulfekotte, Illus.). Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.
Parker, R. A. (2016). Piano starts here: The young Art Tatum (R. A. Parker, Illus.). Dragonfly Books.
Patton, (2014). Qualitative research & evaluation methods: Integrating theory and practice (4th ed.). Sage Publications.
Pehrson, C. L. (2011). Portrayal of characters with disabilities in Newbery books. All Theses and Dissertations. 2821. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/2821
Rabinowitz, A. (2014). A boy and a jaguar (C. Chien, Illus.). HmH Books for Young Readers.
Ransome, A. (1968). The fool of the world and the flying ship: A Russian tale (U. Shulevitz, Illus.). Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Seeger, P., & Jacobs, P. D. (2006). The deaf musicians (R. G. Christie, Illus.). G. P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers.
Serafini, F., & Moses, L. (2014). The roles of children’s literature in the primary grades. Reading Teacher, 67(6), 465-468.
Shifrer, D. (2018). Clarifying the social roots of the disproportionate classification of racial minorities and males with learning disabilities. The Sociological Quarterly, 59(3), 384–406. https://doi.org/10.1080/00380253.2018.1479198
Short, K. G. (2017). Critical content analysis as a research methodology. In H. Johnson, J. Mathis, & K. G. Short (Eds.), Critical content analysis of children’s and young adult literature: Reframing perspective (pp. 1-15). Routledge.
Sís, P. (1998). Tibet through the red box (P. Sís, Illus.). Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
So, R. J., & Wezerek, G. (2020, December 11). Just how white is the book industry? The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/12/11/opinion/culture/diversity-publishing-industry.html?searchResultPosition=1
Sotomayor, S. (2019). Just ask!: Be different, be brave, be you (R. López, Illus.). Philomel Books.
Stryer, A. S. (2007). Kami and the Yaks (B. Dodson, Illus.). Bay Otter Press.
Sullivan, N. (2003). A critical introduction to queer theory. New York University Press.
Thompson, L. A. (2015). Emmanuel’s dream: The true story of Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah (S. Qualls, Illus.). Schwartz & Wade.
Uhlberg, M. (2010). Dad, Jackie, and me (C. Bootman, Illus.). Peachtree Publishing.
U.S. Department of Education (USDOE). (2018). The 40th annual report to congress on the implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Retrieved from https://www2.ed.gov/about/reports/annual/osep/2018/parts-b-c/40th-arc-for-idea.pdf
Wehmeyer, M. L., & Schwartz, M. (2001). Disproportionate representation of males in special education services: Biology, behavior, or bias? Education and Treatment of Children, 24(1), 28-45.
Yasima, T. (1955). Crow boy (T. Yasima, Illus.). Puffin books.
American Library Association (2020). Schneider Family Book Award. http://www.ala.org/awardsgrants/schneider-family-book-award
Annamma, S. A., Ferri, B. A., & Connor, D. J. (2018). Disability critical race theory: Exploring the intersectional lineage, emergence, and potential futures of DisCrit in Education. Review of Research in Education, 42, 46-71.
Bailey, J. (2019). A friend for Henry (M. Song, Illus.). Chronicle Books.
Bell, C. (2006). Introducing white disability studies: A modest proposal. In L. J. Davis (Ed.), The disability studies reader (pp. 275-82). Routledge.
Bertrand, D. G. (2008). My pal Victor: Mi amigo Victor (R. Sweetland, Illus.). Raven Tree Press.
Bérubé, M. (1998). Life as we know it: A father, a daily, and an exceptional child. Vintage.
Bérubé, M. (2016a). Life as Jamie knows it: An exceptional child grows up. Beacon Press.
Bérubé, M. (2016b). The secret life of stories: From Don Quixote to Harry Potter, how understanding intellectual disability transformed the way we read. New York University Press.
Bishop, R. S. (1997). Selecting literature for a multicultural classroom. In V. J. Harris (Ed.), Using multiethnic literature in the K-8 classroom (pp. 1-19). ChristopherGordon.
Bittner, R., & Superle, M. (2016). The last bastion of aesthetics?: Formalism and the rhetoric of excellence in children’s literary awards. In K. B. Kidd & J. T. Thomas Jr. (Eds.), Prizing children’s literature: The cultural politics of children’s book awards (pp. 73-86). Routledge.
Botelho, M. J., & Rudman, M. K. (2009). Critical multicultural analysis of children’s literature: Mirrors, windows, and doors. Routledge.
Brah, A., & Phoenix, A. (2004). Ain’t I a woman? Revisiting intersectionality. Journal of International Women’s Studies, 5(3), 75-86.
Bryant, J. (2013). A splash of red: The life and art of Horace Pippin (M. Sweet, Illus.). Knopf Books for Young Readers.
Bryant, J. (2016). Six dots: A story of young Louis Braille (B. Kulikov, Illus.). Knopf Books for Young Readers.
Causarano, A. (2021). Children’s books, disability and reader’s response: A critical analysis. The Reading Matrix: An International Online Journal, 21(1), 27-37.
Chafel, J. A., Flint, A. S., Hammel, J., & Pomeroy, K. H. (2007). Young children, social issues, and critical literacy: Stories of teachers and researchers. Young Children, 62(1), 73-81.
Christensen, A., & Jensen, S. Q. (2012). Doing intersectional analysis: Methodological implications for qualitative research. Nordic Journal of Feminist and Gender Research, 20(2), 109-125. https://doi.irg/https://doi.org/10.1080/08038740.2012.673505
Christensen, B. (2011). Django (B. Christensen, Illus.). Flashpoint.
Collins, P. H. (2015). Intersectionality’s definitional dilemmas. Annual Review of Sociology, 41, 1-20. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-soc-073014-112142
Crenshaw, K. (1989). Demarginalizing the intersection of race and sex: A black feminist critique of antidiscrimination doctrine, feminist theory and antiracist politics. University of Chicago Legal Forum, 1, Article 8, 139-167. https://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1052&context=uclf
Crenshaw, K. (1991). Mapping the margins: Intersectionality, identity politics, and violence against women of color. Stanford Law Review, 43(6), 1241-1299.
Cummins, J. (2016). The still almost all-white world of children’s literature: Theory, practice, and identity-based children’s book awards. In K. B. Kidd & J. T. Thomas Jr. (Eds.), Prizing children’s literature: The cultural politics of children’s book awards (pp. 87-103). Routledge.
Curwood, J. S. (2013). Redefining normal: A critical analysis of (dis)ability in young adult literature. Children’s Literature in Education, 44, 15-28.
Davis, K. (2020). Who owns intersectionality? Some reflections on feminist debates on how theories travel. European Journal of Women’s Studies, 27(2), 113-127.
Davis, L. J. (1995). Enforcing normalcy: Disability, deafness, and the body. Verso.
Dyches, T. T., & Prater, M. A. (2000). Developmental disability in children’s literature: Issues and annotated bibliography. PRISM Series. Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities Division of the Council for Exceptional Children.
Dyches, T., Prater, M.A., & Jenson, J. (2006). Portrayal of disabilities in Caldecott books. Teaching Exceptional Children Plus, 2(5). Retrieved from http://hdl.lib.byu.edu/1877/3468
Estreich, G. (2011). The shape of the eye: Down Syndrome, family and the stories we inherit. Southern Methodist UP.
Fang, Z. (1996). Illustrations, text, and the child reader: What are pictures in children’s storybooks for?. Reading Horizons, 37(2), 130-142.
Faulkner, S. L., & Trotter, S. P. (2017). Data saturation. In J. Matthes, C. S. Davis, & R. F. Potter (Eds.), The international encyclopedia of communication research methods (pp. 1-2). Hoboken: NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
Garland-Thomson, R. (2002). Integrating disability, transforming feminist theory. NWSA Journal, 14(3), 1-32.
Garland-Thomson, R. (2019). Introduction. In P. Catapano & Garland-Thomson, R. (Eds.), About us: Essays from the disability series of the New York Times (pp. xxiii-xxxiii). Liveright.
Goethals, T., De Schauwer, E., & Van Hove, G. (2015). Weaving intersectionality into disability studies research: Inclusion, reflexivity and anti-essentialism. Journal of Diversity and Gender Studies, 2(1-2), 75-94.
Hooks, B. (1984). Feminist theory: From margin to center. South End Press.
International Board on Books for Young People (2020, March). IBBY collection of books for young people with disabilities. Retrieved from https://www.ibby.org/awards-activities/activities/ibby-collection-of-books-for-young-people-with-disabilities
Jarman, M. (2013). Entanglements of disability, ethnicity, and relations: Orienting toward belonging in George Estreich’s The Shape of the Eye. The Journal of American Culture, 36(3), 194-205.
Kensky, J., & Downes, P. (2018). Rescue & Jessica: A life-changing friendship (S. Magoon, Illus.). Candlewick.
Kibler, J. (1996). Latino voices in children’s literature: Instructional approaches for developing cultural understanding in the classroom (pp. 239-268). In J. LeBlanc Flores (Ed.), Children of la frontera: Binational efforts to serve Mexican migrant and immigrant students. ERIC Clearinghouse on Rural and Small Schools.
Kupupika, T. (2021). Shaping our freedom dreams: Reclaiming intersectionality through Black feminist legal theory. Virginia Law Review Online, 107, 27-47.
Lang, G. (2003). Looking out for Sarah (G. Lang, Illus.). Charlesbridge.
Leininger, M., Dyches, T.T., Prater, M.A., & Heath, M.A. (2010). Newbery award winning books 1975–2009: How do they portray disabilities?. Education and Training in Autism and Developmental Disabilities, 45(4), 583–596.
Li, H. (2019). The right to be frivolous? An intersectional analysis of gendered harassment. Educational Theory, 69, 55-72.
Lynch-Brown, C. (1993). Essentials of children’s literature. Allyn-Bacon.
Lyon, G. E. (2010). The pirate of Kindergarten (L. Avril, Illus.). Atheneum Books for Young Readers.
Martinez, M., Koss, M. D., & Johnson, N. J. (2016). Meeting characters in Caldecotts: What does this mean for today’s readers? The Reading Teacher, 70(1), 19-28.
Mitchell, D. T., & Snyder, S. L. (2015). The biopolitics of disability: Neoliberalism, ablenationalism, and peripheral embodiment. University of Michigan Press.
Morgan, K. P. (1996). Describing the emperor’s new clothes: Three myths of educational in(equality). In A. Diller, B. Houston, K. P. Morgan, M. Ayim (Eds.), The gender question in education, theory, pedagogy, and politics (pp. 105-122). Westview.
Mo, W., & Shen, W. (1997). Reexamining the issue of authenticity in picture books. Children’s Literature in Education, 28(2), 85-93.
National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities. (2012, November). IDEA: The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Retrieved October 27, 2012, Retrieved from https://www.parentcenterhub.org/wp-content/uploads/repo_items/gr3.pdf
Nodelman, P. (1988). Words about pictures: The narrative art of children’s picture books. The University of Georgia Press.
Nodelman, P. (1992). The other: Orientalism, colonialism, and children’s literature, Children’s Literature Association Quarterly, 17(1), 29-35.
Nodelman, P. (1999). Decoding the images: Illustration and picture books. In P. Hung (Ed.). Understanding children’s literature (pp. 69-80). Routledge.
Nodelman, P. (2008). The hidden adult: Defining children’s literature. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Oliveros, J. (2018). The remember balloons (D. Wulfekotte, Illus.). Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.
Parker, R. A. (2016). Piano starts here: The young Art Tatum (R. A. Parker, Illus.). Dragonfly Books.
Patton, (2014). Qualitative research & evaluation methods: Integrating theory and practice (4th ed.). Sage Publications.
Pehrson, C. L. (2011). Portrayal of characters with disabilities in Newbery books. All Theses and Dissertations. 2821. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/2821
Rabinowitz, A. (2014). A boy and a jaguar (C. Chien, Illus.). HmH Books for Young Readers.
Ransome, A. (1968). The fool of the world and the flying ship: A Russian tale (U. Shulevitz, Illus.). Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Seeger, P., & Jacobs, P. D. (2006). The deaf musicians (R. G. Christie, Illus.). G. P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers.
Serafini, F., & Moses, L. (2014). The roles of children’s literature in the primary grades. Reading Teacher, 67(6), 465-468.
Shifrer, D. (2018). Clarifying the social roots of the disproportionate classification of racial minorities and males with learning disabilities. The Sociological Quarterly, 59(3), 384–406. https://doi.org/10.1080/00380253.2018.1479198
Short, K. G. (2017). Critical content analysis as a research methodology. In H. Johnson, J. Mathis, & K. G. Short (Eds.), Critical content analysis of children’s and young adult literature: Reframing perspective (pp. 1-15). Routledge.
Sís, P. (1998). Tibet through the red box (P. Sís, Illus.). Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
So, R. J., & Wezerek, G. (2020, December 11). Just how white is the book industry? The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/12/11/opinion/culture/diversity-publishing-industry.html?searchResultPosition=1
Sotomayor, S. (2019). Just ask!: Be different, be brave, be you (R. López, Illus.). Philomel Books.
Stryer, A. S. (2007). Kami and the Yaks (B. Dodson, Illus.). Bay Otter Press.
Sullivan, N. (2003). A critical introduction to queer theory. New York University Press.
Thompson, L. A. (2015). Emmanuel’s dream: The true story of Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah (S. Qualls, Illus.). Schwartz & Wade.
Uhlberg, M. (2010). Dad, Jackie, and me (C. Bootman, Illus.). Peachtree Publishing.
U.S. Department of Education (USDOE). (2018). The 40th annual report to congress on the implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Retrieved from https://www2.ed.gov/about/reports/annual/osep/2018/parts-b-c/40th-arc-for-idea.pdf
Wehmeyer, M. L., & Schwartz, M. (2001). Disproportionate representation of males in special education services: Biology, behavior, or bias? Education and Treatment of Children, 24(1), 28-45.
Yasima, T. (1955). Crow boy (T. Yasima, Illus.). Puffin books.
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Jun 19, 2025
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Author Biography
Sohyun Meacham, University of Northern Iowa
Sohyun Meacham, Ph.D. is an associate professor of literacy education at the University of Northern Iowa. As a mother of two bi-racial children and of one child who is interrogating about ASD, she strives to educate pre-service/in-service teachers for diversity and social justice using multicultural children’s literature.