A book can help with
For the child who finds the thing everyone else finds easy genuinely hard.
Some children find reading, or writing, or catching a ball, far harder than everyone around them seems to, and can’t work out why. Without an explanation, a child usually reaches the worst conclusion available: that they’re stupid or lazy. They almost never are.
A book that names what’s going on changes that. Seeing a character who struggles with the same thing, and who is clearly clever and capable in other ways, gives a child a far kinder story about themselves. It also helps the people around them understand that effort isn’t the missing ingredient.
Here’s what I’d reach for. There are separate pages for ADHD and for autism. Find your child’s age and start there.
Naming it kindly
For little ones it’s about a simple, blame-free explanation and the reassurance that they’re not the only one.
A little girl is unhappy that letters won’t behave for her, until she learns her difficulty has a name and that help exists. It’s plain and gentle and takes the shame out of it. There are notes for parents at the back, which are useful if a diagnosis is new.
or on Bookshop.org
Tom finds writing and drawing and catching harder than his classmates, and feels he has no talent at all, until he discovers what he is good at. Written for children with dyspraxia, it’s encouraging without pretending the difficulty away. Good for shifting a child’s focus to their strengths.
or on Bookshop.org
Not stupid, just different
Older children have often decided something unkind about themselves by now. These books argue back.
Trisha can’t read, hides it for years and is bullied for it, until a teacher notices and patiently teaches her. It’s autobiographical, which is why it rings so true, and the moment she reads her first sentence is genuinely moving. One of the best books there is on dyslexia.
or on Bookshop.org
Adam dreads reading and thinks he’s the only one, until he’s properly assessed and gets the right help. It explains dyslexia clearly and shows that support makes a real difference. Reassuring for a child in the middle of that process.
or on Bookshop.org
A proper novel
An older child can meet themselves in a full novel where the difficulty is real and the character is the hero.
Ally has hidden her dyslexia for years behind being the class troublemaker, until a teacher sees what’s really happening. Its central idea, that judging a fish by its ability to climb a tree tells you nothing, lands hard with any child who has felt stupid at school. Warm, and widely loved.
or on Bookshop.org
Percy has dyslexia and ADHD, and it turns out both are signs of who he really is rather than faults. Riordan wrote it for his own son, and countless children have loved being told their brain is the reason they’re special. A cracking adventure first, and a quiet gift second.
or on Bookshop.org
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Something to do together
A page for setting down what’s genuinely hard, what helps, and the things this child is brilliant at, to keep the balance right. I’m making it now, and it will live here soon.
Specialists in this area are consistent on one point: early identification and the right support make a substantial difference, and a child who understands their own difficulty copes far better than one left to invent an explanation.
So if reading, writing or coordination seem unusually hard, do raise it with their teacher and your doctor rather than waiting to see. And keep pointing out what they’re good at, since a child who thinks they’re stupid stops trying long before anyone notices.
These pages are written for the grown-ups looking after a child: parents, teachers and carers. A good book can sit beside a worried child, though it never stands in for a real conversation, or for proper support when something feels too big to carry alone.