All The Way To The Top: How One Girl's Fight for Americans With Disabilities Changed Everything by Annette Bay Pimentel; illustrated by Nabi H. Ali

Diagnosed with cerebral palsy at birth, Jennifer Keelan grew up battling — and overcoming — the limitations others set for her. From a lack of cutaway curbs and bus lifts to being denied enrollment at her neighborhood school, Jennifer was continually blocked from living the life she wanted. But after discovering the world of disability rights activism, she knew she had to use her voice to change things. When Jennifer was just eight years old, she participated in the Capitol Crawl. The deeply affecting image of Jennifer crawling up the steps of Capitol Hill went viral and helped pressure Congress into passing the Americans with Disabilities Act. A powerfully illustrated biography of Jennifer’s life and a celebration of youth activism, All the Way to the Top will teach all children that they have the power to make a difference.

We Move Together by Kelly Fritsch and Anne McGuire; illustrated by Eduardo Trejos

A bold and colorful exploration of all the ways that people navigate through the spaces around them and a celebration of the relationships we build along the way, We Move Together follows a mixed-ability group of kids as they creatively negotiate everyday barriers and find joy and connection in disability culture and community.

A Sky-Blue Bench by Bahram Rahman; illustrated by Peggy Collins

It's Afghan schoolgirl Aria's first day back at school since her accident. She's excited, but she's also worried about sitting on the hard floor all day with her new prosthetic "helper leg." Just as Aria feared, sitting on the floor is so uncomfortable that she can't think about learning at all. She knows that before the war changed many things in Afghanistan, schools like hers had benches for students to sit at. If she had a bench, her leg would not hurt so much. The answer is obvious: she will gather materials, talk to Kaka Najar, the carpenter in the old city, and learn to build a bench for herself.

Party Problems by C.L. Reid; illustrated by Elena Aiello

Emma is excited about Izzie's birthday party, but she's also nervous. Is her dress too fancy? Will she know anyone else at the party? Did she buy the right gift? Will Emma's worries ruin her chance to have fun? Find out how Emma handles her party problems in this early chapter book from the Emma Every Day series. Emma is Deaf and often uses sign language to communicate, and each book includes an ASL fingerspelling chart, a sign language guide, a glossary, and content-related questions.

Obioma Plays Football by Chika Unigwe; illustrated by Chinyere Okoroafor

Nine-year-old Obioma is a football star. She uses a special stick to score goals and never loses a race in her wheelchair! But when she moves to a new city, she has to go to a new school where she has no friends, and everyone calls her “the girl with the wheelchair”. Obioma misses playing football most of all, until one day a girl named Ayana asks her to race. Once they start playing football, everyone joins in and Obioma finds a new team to play with!

On-The-Go by Brook Sitgraves Turner; illustrated by Archaa Shrivastav

In On-The-Go, beautiful, full-color photos of kids with disabilities celebrate all types of movement and mobility aids (like wheelchairs, walkers, crutches, prosthetics, and service dogs), while simple, poetic text builds both vocabulary and empathy.

Logan's Greenhouse by JaNay Brown-Wood; illustrated by Samara Hardy

Logan is organizing a pet playdate at his greenhouse for all of his friends, and his treats won’t be the same without his carrots. He’s searched and searched, but his greenhouse is filled with plenty of plants and Logan needs our help to identify them. What do we know about carrots? They’re long, orange, and have bushy leaves at the top — and, wait a moment, is that a carrot? No, that’s a turnip. Where, oh, where could those carrots be? Can you help Logan find them in time for his playdate?

Rescue and Jessica: A Life-Changing Friendship by Jessica Kensky and Patrick Downes; illustrated by Scott Magoon

Rescue thought he’d grow up to be a Seeing Eye dog — it’s the family business, after all. When he gets the news that he’s better suited to being a service dog, he’s worried that he’s not up to the task. Then he meets Jessica, a girl whose life is turning out differently than the way she'd imagined it, too. Now Jessica needs Rescue by her side to help her accomplish everyday tasks. And it turns out that Rescue can help Jessica see after all: a way forward, together, one step at a time.

My City Speaks by Darren Lebeuf; illustrated by Ashley Barron

A young girl and her father spend a day in the city, her city that she loves, traveling to the places they go together. As they do, the girl, who is visually impaired, describes what she senses in delightfully precise, poetic detail. Her city, she says, “pitters and patters, and drips and drains.” It's both “smelly” and “sweet.” Her city also speaks, as it “dings and dongs and rattles and roars.” And sometimes, maybe even some of the best times, it just listens. It is a celebration of all there is to appreciate in our surroundings — just by paying attention!

Woodpecker Girl by Chingyen Liu

A little girl was born with cerebral palsy, a condition that rendered her wheelchair-bound. One day, her art teacher affixed a paintbrush to her forehead with a headband. From then on, the little girl was able to express herself and freely explore the world through her paintings.

What Happened To You? by James Catchpole; illustrated by Karen George

What happened to you? Was it a shark? A burglar? A lion? Did it fall off? A boy named Joe is trying to play pirates at the playground, but he keeps being asked what happened to his leg. Bombarded with questions and silly suggestions, Joe becomes more and more fed up... until the kids finally understand they don't need to know what happened, and that they’re wasting valuable playtime!

My Three Best Friends And Me, Zulay by Cari Best; illustrated by Vanessa Brantley-Newton

Zulay and her three best friends are all in the same first-grade class and study the same things, even though Zulay is blind. When their teacher asks her students what activity they want to do on Field Day, Zulay surprises everyone when she says she wants to run a race. With the help of a special aide and the support of her friends, Zulay does just that.

A Boy And A Jaguar by Alan Rabinowitz; illustrated by Catia Chen

Young Alan feels broken and alone because of his terrible stutter. But when he talks to animals, he is fluent. He promises the caged jaguars at the Bronx Zoo that once he finds his own voice, he’ll be their voice too. A Boy and a Jaguar tells the true story of Dr. Alan Rabinowitz — Time magazine’s “Indiana Jones of wildlife conservation” — as he grows up and fulfills his promise to be an advocate for big cats.