Disclosure: I received this complimentary product (Adventures with Charlie) through Ascot Media Group. Affiliate Links will be used, thank you for your support of my blog, costs you nothing to do so.
What I am Reviewing
I received three books in the Adventures with Charlie Series. Book Two: Charlie Goes to Tommy’s, Book Four: Charlie plays Baseball and Book Five: Charlie and the half-marathon!
In each of these books Charlie, a special needs child, interacts with various people in his community. You’ll follow his imagaination, meet his friends, and see how the community interacts with him. A great series to share with children about making friends with children of different abilities.
Author Charles Schoen writes from his own experiences raising a child with special needs, which inspired the writing of this series. Produced by Catch of the Spirit Appalachia, Inc and beautifully illustrated by Doreyl Ammons Cain. Each book runs around 32 pages. My review is on behalf of Ascot Media Group.
Not all the books are up on Amazon, so I’ve linked the ones in the series I could find.
Adventures with Charlie, looking deeper
Charlie goes to Tommy’s is also called Charlie goes to the Barber, and tells the trip Charlie took to get his haircut. While at Tommy’s he gets to have fun with the barber, the other patrons and even gets to meet the local policeman. Written in rhyme, with large font it is an easy to read book.
Each book follows a similar format. Charlie has a place to go, meets various people while there, and finds a way to show community involvement. For instance, in Charlie Plays Baseball you’ll find volunteers helping a variety of special needs children playing baseball.
Rhyme, sometimes forced, fill the pages of each and every book. 🙂 This does make for easy reading as rhymes flow easily off the tongue.
In Charlie & the Half-Marathon, Charlie is running (wheeling) a half-marathon with his dad adn you get to understand why Charlie makes the noises that he does. When you can’t talk you laugh, scream and moan. Charlie is super excited to be running and gets a medal too… just like all the other runners!
Each book begins with a bit of an introduction to Charlie and his abilities, you can see the love that Charles Schoen has for his oldest boy. Such a legacy to carry on the work started with his eldest don’t you think?
Should Adventures with Charlie be on your shelves?
I used to work with differently abled children and books like these would be fun to share with children of all differing abilities. Who thinks about a child in a wheelchair taking part in a marathon? Or why would a policeman choose to make friends with a special needs child… perhaps because he makes friends with all the children?
Inclusion and community involvement fill the pages. Charlie seems like a sweet boy who communicates differently than most and likes to get to know the people around him.
The only thing I didn’t get was the “Charlie is Magic he can fly off the ground” statements at the beginning of each book. Made me feel like I was missing something. Perhaps it’s just a reference to not limit the potential of anyone. And that message I like and more children (and their parents) need to hear that.
These sound like sweet books. My oldest helped with a baseball league for disabled children one spring. Of course, the next spring they were unable to meet. . . I wonder if the statement that puzzled you has to do with the fact that since Charlie is in a wheelchair (or appears to be from the few illustrations you shared), his feet never touch the ground giving him the feel that he is flying. Just a thought. . .
might be, it’s a thought at least. Or maybe it’s just the emotional impact of being able to do things like all the other children.