Slug Days by Sara Leach, illustrations by Rebecca Bender
This chapter book features Lauren. Lauren has Autism Spectrum Disorder, and she has several tools at her disposal both at home and at school to help her when she begins to feel frustrated or panicky. Those days when things don't go well Lauren refers to as slug days.
As the book begins, Lauren's day starts off badly when her usual seat on the bus is taken by another child. The bus driver is a substitute driver, and so when Lauren's initial solution doesn't work, she must find a new seat, and find a way to control her bad feelings.
As we see Lauren encounter different situations in her life, in the classroom, at home, and elsewhere, we learn the different types of challenges that she must deal with.
This book works well to explain some of the typical challenges for children on the spectrum, and shows some of the different techniques that can help. Good days for Lauren are referred to as butterfly days by her, and we see her enjoying these as well.
Having a new baby sister is one change to her routine that she has found challenging, but we see her find a way to make that connection for herself. We also see her finding a friend at school. We see the reality of teachers and other adults not noticing behaviours and Lauren needing to find her own solutions.
The illustrations are charming simple black and white drawing, but give a sense of the situations Lauren finds herself in.
A great choice.
No comments:
Post a Comment