Read a Book with Me

Originally published in Brazil and designated an Outstanding Book for Young People with Disabilities by the International Board on Books for Young People, Schimel’s picture book features a brown-skinned boy who fruitlessly seeks a reading companion. Selecting his favorite volume one morning, Antonio intends to share the adventure with another person in his neighborhood. But when his mother, the baker, the woman at the fruit stand, the mailman, and the woman at the magazine stand each prove too busy, he feels dejected—until a neighbor who has been sitting in a folding chair all along, a white-bearded Black man who is blind, invites Antonio to share a story with him: “No one seems to have any time for me either.” Lopes’s thin-limbed, dot-eyed characters, rendered in a subdued color palette, are complemented by finely detailed streetscapes. It’s a reflection of how society can discount young and disabled members, and a reminder to readers to not do so. Ages 3–8. [em](July) [/em]