Anthony Best: A Picture Book about Asperger's

by Davene Fahy, Carol Inouye (Illustrator)

Overview

Meet Anthony, a Little Boy with Asperger’s who Has a Very Special Talent

Anthony Best is not like the other kids in his neighborhood. He screams at loud noises, spins around in circles to have fun, and throws sand at kids in the sandbox. Other kids laugh at silly knock-knock jokes, but not Anthony; he simply stands and stares. And instead of giggling, he flaps his hands when he is happy. Anthony has Asperger’s syndrome, which makes him see the world in a different way. But his friend Hannah knows that although Anthony is different and doesn’t play like other kids, he has something very special inside—something that makes him “the best.” When Anthony receives a new piano, his hidden talent is revealed.
 
Everyone has their quirks and traits that make them different from others, as Davene Fahy and Carol Inouye illustrate, but those differences are precisely what make us special—no matter how we interact with others. Anthony teaches children an important lesson about accepting differences and finding what makes each child special.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781510758155
Publisher:	Sky Pony
Publication date:	07/28/2020
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	8.50(w) x 10.00(h) x 0.20(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Davene Fahy, MA, CCC-SLP, has worked as a speech therapist and special education director for more than forty years in and around Philadelphia and in Maine. She is a life member of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA). 
 
Carol Inouye has written and illustrated over a dozen children’s books. She has also illustrated for advertising, national magazines, and television networks. Prior to becoming an illustrator, Inouye worked as an art director for several publishing houses in New York. She has won various awards for illustration, graphic design, and art direction from the New York Society of Illustrators, the New England Museum Association, and the Art Directors Club of New York.

Editorial Reviews

This story is rich in so many ways . . . a window into Asperger’s syndrome and at the same time, a window into childhood.” —Sima Gerber, PhD, CCC-SLP, professor of speech-language pathology at Queens College
 
 “This kind of a book can only do good things.” —Daniel Gottlieb, PhD, author of Letters to Sam: A Grandfather’s Lessons on Love, Loss, and the Gifts of Life
 
 “Compassionately teaching that differently abled children may also have special gifts.” —Midwest Book Review

“I think Anthony Best is a great avenue to teach typical children about their autistic friends and why they often act so differently.” —Kristen Mullaney, parent of two children with autism

From the Publisher

This story is rich in so many ways . . . a window into Asperger’s syndrome and at the same time, a window into childhood.

Sima Gerber

An earnestly lifeless infodump featuring a child with a spectrum disorder who occasionally misbehaves but, mirabile dictu, can play piano like a pro. Looking about 10 years old in some of Inouye's static suburban scenes and younger in others, Anthony is viewed by a sympathetic would-be friend. She models proper responses while explaining that he sometimes screams at loud noises, throws sand, seldom makes eye contact, flaps his hands when he's happy and just doesn't get knock-knock jokes. But one day, a grand piano arrives at Anthony's house, and the narrator is astonished to find him confidently playing "a song I never heard before. Wow! I can't do that," she marvels. Children will come away from this with a little more awareness of some common behaviors associated with diagnoses of Asperger's and similar disabilities, but such information is already widely available in less generic trappings, and Anthony's musical ability--which springs from nowhere here--isn't exactly typical. A worthy topic but no more than a discussion starter, as it's too bland to make much of an impression on its own. (afterword, with URLs) (Picture book. 6-8)

Kirkus Reviews