This Is My Brain! A Book on Neurodiversity

Gravel’s signature creature-filled cartoons celebrate brains’ beautiful diversity. With googly eyes, skinny arms and legs, and a cheerful-appearing disposition, the “big, jellyish, squishy” brain that stars fills panels with speech-bubble commentary as narration lauds the subject’s “superpowers!” Simple text emphasizes that “every brain works DIFFERENTLY,” and multicolored monsters describe varied styles of learning (via tactile methods, alone, with others, and more) and perceiving the world. Cheery coloring and bright round characters, depicted with varying abilities, impart a reassuring message of open-mindedness and compassion toward others and self. While the book never directly explores neurodiversity as a term, its emphasis on acceptance and experience (“It’s a bit like our brains are wearing different colored glasses”) hints at the paradigm. Ages 8–12. (Oct.)