The Picture Books That Hooked My Son’s Attention as a Child with Autism
by Rebecca L. Brown
One of the most common characteristics of children with autism spectrum disorder is an abnormal preoccupation with a singular person, object, activity, or idea. When I recall my son’s early childhood, I remember it in the phases of his obsessions. First came vehicles of any kind, then tractors and farming, firetrucks and firefighters, trains, race cars, Herbie the Love Bug, ocean creatures, and, finally, fishing. There was also a short infatuation with the musical “Hello Dolly,” which I personally loved. He’s almost grown now and though he still has strong feelings about things he loves (rowing crew and freshwater fishing), the single-minded focus on one thing at a time has passed.
During these periods of his life, his passion was all he talked about, wanted to hear about, played with, wore, and, of course, read about. (This could become complicated with something like the ORIGINAL Herbie the Love Bug, which may have inspired a plethora of swag years ago — but such items are now considered and priced as “antique.”) As both a mother and a teacher of young children, I love children’s picture books and we have after all these years amassed quite a collection of very topic-specific books that at certain times in his life we read many times a day. Paging through them again can transport me back to his early childhood and all the strange facts I learned about construction vehicles, the identification skills I developed for different kinds of farm equipment, and the lyrics to “Hello Dolly.”
Here are some of my favorite picture books from my son’s childhood:
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Dear Zoo: A Lift-the-Flap Book
The first book to catch his attention was Dear Zoo. My son was typically a busy little boy who rarely sat still for more than a minute. I was so relieved when we discovered how much he loved this book at two, particularly because of my own love of books and reading. He loved the surprises hiding behind each flap.
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Go, Dog. Go!
Available from:P.D. Eastman’s Go, Dog. Go! was an early favorite. Our first copy was an abridged board book version that I read to my son starting in his infancy. His favorite part in both the original and the board book was the mysterious destination of the dogs … a dog party!
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Richard Scarry’s Cars and Trucks and Things That Go
Available from:Richard Scarry’s Cars and Trucks and Things That Go provided hours of entertainment as we looked at the carefully labelled vehicles — both realistic and ridiculous (Cheese Car?!) — on every page. After having three young boys, we wore through two hardcover copies.
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Trucks: Whizz! Zoom! Rumble!
This one introduces readers to realistic vehicles with a surprise driver in every one, for instance the logging truck is driven by a beaver and the antiques truck by an old granny. My son loved the raucous rhyming text just as much as I loved the sometimes-above-his-head humor (for example, “Tiny’s Dump” truck is driven by a hippo).
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The Complete Book of Farmyard Tales
The Complete Book of Farmyard Tales is a thick book of the adventures of Poppy, Sam, and their dog, Rusty, who live on Apple Tree Farm. This very British book has a series of short stories about their very idyllic lives where no one frets too much even when the grumpy sheep Dolly escapes and blocks the tracks of the recently refurbished steam train.
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Chugga-Chugga Choo-Choo
Kevin Lewis’s Chugga-Chugga Choo-Choo was his favorite train book. The fun rhymes, toy characters, and bright colors meant we always reached the last page — and before I even closed it, he was asking to read it again. His favorite part was spotting the little toy man fishing from a bridge in a busy city scene.
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