I’m asking for a friend who’s a U.S. military wife in Germany and has a 9 year old son diagnosed with ADHD and she wants to help him understand the condition. (Note: not a thread to discuss the validity of ADHD diagnoses.) I’m a librarian but have virtually no experience with children’s books and while I can do keyword searches and all I was hoping somebody might know offhand and be able to recommend for or against certain books.
Thanks for any info,
J
The Library of Congress has 43 books with the subject heading Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder Juvenile literature.
My favorite title so far is All Dogs Have ADHD.
One of the top entries in the Style Invitational in The Washington Post, where the contest was to come up with bad ideas for children’s books, was this:
The Attention Deficit Disorder Association’s Book of Wild Animals of North Amer-Hey! Lets Go Ride Our Bikes
So…are we talking about a non-fiction book that’s written for child readers, or a fictional book? I can’t imagine that there are a lot of the latter.
I’ve self-published a pop-up book about erectile dysfunction, if that’s any help.
To be honest though, it’s a little disappointing.
Totto-Chan: The Little Girl at the Window is enormously popular in Japan, and also in Viet Nam where I first came across it. Totto-Chan’s condition is never really referred to as ADHD, but it’s pretty clear. She’s a girl though, so maybe wouldn’t interest your friend’s son. The cover makes her look more girly than her character acts. She’s comparable to, say, Beverly Cleary’s Ramona.
Hop On, by Dr.
I wrote to my friend, who recommended the following book she got for her son (but he’s in middle school). She said it explained a lot about the diagnosis, but not in a “there’s something wrong with you” way (her words):
I’m sure you’ve already found this one, but it sounds perfect for a younger child:
I can’t vouch for it, but the reviews sound promising.
Wallet