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About the Author |
| Dena Fox Luchsinger is the author of Sometimes Smart is Good / A Veces es Bueno Ser Inteligente (Eerdman's 2007) and founder of Proyecto Down, a non-profit program serving families of children with Down syndrome in Monterrey, Mexico. After living and traveling extensively in Central and South America, she currently lives in Wasilla, Alaska, with her husband and three children, one of whom has the dual diagnosis of Down syndrome and autism.
About the illustrator: Julie Olson grew up with six brothers and two sisters in Southern Indiana. She found her own way among her siblings by moving out west and becoming an artist. Her passions are raising her 3 children and illustrating children's books, including Already Asleep (Keene Publishing, 2006).
Visit the illustrator's website!
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2007 Moonbeam Awards: Childhood Wellness Category, Silver Medal
Playing by the Rules is a new children's book about a girl and her brother with autism. The story gets started when Great Aunt Tilda comes for a rare visit and spends the day looking after them while their mom is busy around the house.
Jody and her brother Josh love to play board games! In particular, Josh loves to play Animal Sounds Bingo. When Aunt Tilda wants to play too, Josh suddenly gets up and leaves. All the better thinks Jody, who wants to play a different game anyway and have her Aunt's undivided attention. Jody has to explain to Aunt Tilda that, because of autism, Josh is uncomfortable around new people, and he ONLY likes to play games with animals in them.
Turns out there's a lot about autism and Josh's behavior that is new to Aunt Tilda, and throughout the story, Jody helps her to understand him better. Slowly Josh warms to Aunt Tilda, until she picks up one of Josh's carefully arranged animal figures--big mistake! Jody tells her what to do to make it all right, and eventually Josh calms down. She wisely explains that he has his own set of rules to life, adding "You just don't know the rules to Josh's game yet."
With colorful, cartoon-like illustrations, Playing by the Rules is a funny, realistic story about how siblings of children with autism bridge the gap of understanding between their brothers or sisters and other people. It also shows how they often have to tolerate interruptions and accept less attention because of their sibling's special needs. But like many siblings, Josh and Jody also have a positive, loving relationship--most of the time!
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