Children’s media award for disability experience

Among multiple awards for youth media announced Monday by the American Library Association, the Schneider Family Book Award honors books that that “embody an artistic expression of the disability experience.”

A Splash of Red: The Life and Art of Horace Pippin, written by Jen Bryant and illustrated by Melissa Sweet, won in the ages 0 to 10 division.

“This picture book biography of self-taught African American folk artist Horace Pippin demonstrates the dogged determination of a wounded soldier to paint again,” according to the ALA on its Schneider Family Book Award page. “After a WWI injury threatened to end his potential artistic career, he trained himself to paint by supporting his injured arm with the other hand.”

Handbook for Dragon Slayers, by Merrie Haskell, is the winner in the ages 11 to 13 division. “Reluctant Princess Tilda, sheltered due to her deformed foot, longs to escape her destiny. A thwarted kidnapping sends Tilda, Lord Parzifal and her handmaiden Judith on a dragon-hunting quest. Supported by friends and dragons, Tilda realizes her physical limitations do not define her.”

And Rose under Fire, by Elizabeth Wein, is this year’s winner for ages 13 to 18. “After a daring flight maneuver, young pilot Rose Justice is captured by Nazis and sent to Ravensbrück, the notorious women’s concentration camp. Assigned to a high security unit, Rose survives under the wing of the ‘Rabbits,’ Polish political prisoners, subjected to medical experimentation by Nazi doctors.”

The Schneider Family Book Award was doubly resonant to me as a woman on the autism spectrum who is also a library professional. I see value in building library collections that speak to the experience of under-represented groups, and I naturally consider my own demographic and the broader disability community to be worthy of this treatment.