Of the many things you may know about Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, you might not know that she was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes as a child. In addition to fighting for justice on the bench, the honorable Justice Sotomayor is advocating for people with disabilities in her children’s book, Just Ask. The book includes a range of disabilities with simple text explaining what it is and what children might notice about a person with this disability. Because it is so clearly written TO children, it strikes the sometimes tricky balance of being educational without being overly didactic.

The bright vivid illustrations by the amazing Rafael López bring the narrative to life and create an uplifted, out-in-the-open mood befitting the tone of the book. A great choice for a Read-Aloud in an early elementary classroom or to include in a unit on inclusion.

I like the book overall, but there was one issue I had with it. While it models respectful inquiry, I think it would be important to discuss privacy and the rights of people with disabilities to NOT be responsible for educating people. This would definitely be a conversation I would have with children while reading the book; sometimes it is best not to “just ask” (and maybe Just Google It! instead). That said, I appreciate that the book fills a need, as there are few books about disabilities in children’s literature and it is written by a Supreme Court Justice and woman of color.

Respected blogger The Conscious Kid had this to say (link is temporarily not working — working on it!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Read more about the book and why Justice Sotomayor wrote it in this NPR article (shout-out to Quin for sending me the link!).

And here is an interview with Justice Sotomayor about the book.