IBBY Review: DK Braille: It Can't Be True ~

DK Braille: It Can't Be True (DK Publishing, 2016) - IBBY Outstanding Book for Children with Disabilities

I Am Not My Disability: Outstanding Books For and About Young People with Disabilities

Every two years, the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) chooses outstanding books for and about young people with disabilities the 2017 list was announced earlier this month. You can read about it here, and download the pdf.

This biennial selection draws attention to books published around the world that address special needs and situations and which encourage inclusion at every level. Outstanding titles, including the one below, become part of The IBBY Collection of Books for Young People with Disabilities. This one-of-a-kind collection is located in Canada at North York Central Library, part of the Toronto Public Library system.

Children’s librarian Debora Pearson works at North York Central Library, part of the Toronto Public Library system, where The IBBY Collection of Books for Young People with Disabilities is located. She works closely with lead librarian Leigh Turina. Part of her role involves promoting the collection through social media; and she also conducts IBBY collection visits for school classes and youth groups, provides reference support, and assists with the compilation of the biennial list of outstanding titles.

For the past year, Debora has shared a review of one of the books from the 2015 selection with MWD readers each month; and we are delighted to welcome her back now with the first of a new sereis of reviews focusing on the 2017 list.

DK Braille: It Can’t Be True
(Dorling Kindersley, 2016)
ISBN 978-0-2412-2840-1

Reviewed by Debora Pearson^*

This entertaining collection of facts and trivia will be of particular interest to those who can read independently. As it uses both Braille and (large) print, readers with vision loss will be able to enjoy it alongside those who are sighted.

High-contrast colour photographs with embossed surfaces and raised borders accompany the information, which covers animals, the human body, outer space and other subjects. Some images, such as the world’s largest hailstone, are shown at actual size. Comparisons between objects – the text notes, for instance, that the largest hailstone is three times bigger than a tennis ball – emphasize the spectacular nature of the information.

To aid readers with vision loss, lines of Braille connect the Braille caption to the image it describes. Readers looking for shorter segments of text and flexibility, in terms of where to start reading on a page, will make use of the multiple entry points found throughout.

It Can’t Be True was designed in cooperation with the RNIB (the Royal National Institute of Blind People) in the United Kingdom.

^*Debora Pearson is a children’s librarian at North York Central Library, part of the Toronto Public Library system, where The IBBY Collection of Books for Young People with Disabilities is located. Debora works with Leigh Turina, the lead librarian for this collection, and helps promote the collection through social media. She also conducts IBBY collection visits for school classes and youth groups, provides reference support, and assists with the compilation of the collection’s biennial list of outstanding titles.
This review is © Toronto Public Library, 2017.