Author: Renee Connoulty

Category: Picture Book

Publisher: Renee Connoulty

Publication date: 8 May 2024

Blurb: Rose wants to learn and have fun, but when she feels like she’s being bossed around, she gets upset. Rose might yell or run away, even if she really wants to do what’s being asked. Rose can’t help how her brain reacts.

Rose’s mum and her teacher decide to try something different. What will happen if they stop telling her exactly what to do and give Rose choices and time to think?

With charming illustrations and a story that rhymes, “Don’t Tell Me What to Do!” explains why kids like Rose act differently in a fun, easy-to-understand way. A must-read for families, teachers, and anyone who wants to better understand the experience of an autistic kid with a Pathological Demand Avoidance profile. Don’t miss this delightful book that celebrates neurodiversity and autonomy!

Review: This is a new picture book from Renee Connoulty that looks at life with Pathological Demand Avoidance.

This is a lovely story about a young girl who doesn’t like being told what to do. One of the things that I enjoyed most was this book shows that it isn’t always a conscious choice to say no, and that it can apply to things a person wants to do as much as something that may seem more ‘boring’ or undesirable, like school work. Sometimes the brain just says no.

A great picture book for kids, parents, and teachers dealing with kids who don’t like being told what to do.

The post Review: Don’t Tell Me What to Do appeared first on There's a J In there... Somewhere!.

This is a list of books that I have read. I will update this post as I read more. If there are any amazing books you’ve read that should be added to this list, please let me know in the comments. I’m especially interested in positive representation and stories of late diagnosed autistic women.

With the fiction books, these are stories where the main character is identified as autistic or ADHD. There is another list with characters I think are neurospicy, however they aren’t identified as such. That post is here.

This is simply a list, I will add reviews as I get around to it.

Memoir

• Different, Not Less by Chloe Hayden
• Growing into Autism by Sandra Thom-Jones
• What I Mean When I Say I’m Autistic by Annie Kotowicz
• Little Victories by Yvon Roy (parent of an autistic child)
• Late Bloomer by Clem Bastow

Non-Fiction

• Aspergirls by Rudy Simone

Novels

• The Wonderful Thing about Phoenix Rose by Josephine Moon
• The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang
• .Wishing on a Star by Mandy Baggot (main character is the mother of an autistic child, however I think she is autistic too!)
• Act Your Age Eve Brown by Talia Hibbert

Middle Grade Novels

• Paws by Kate Foster
• Harriet Hound by Kate Foster
• The Unlikely Heroes Club by Kate Foster
• The Secret Science Society’s Spectacular Experiment by Kathy Hoopmann & Josie Montano
• The Secret Science Society in Space by Josie Montano & Kathy Hoopmann
• A Kind of Spark by Elle McNicoll
• The Thing About Oliver by Deborah Kelly (the main character is the sibling of an autistic brother)

Picture Books

• The Wobbly Wallaby and the Absolute Bandicoot by Pamela Jacqueline and Irene Brown
• Talking is not my thing by Rose Robbins
• It Was Supposed to be Sunny by Samantha Cotterill
• A Friend Like Mine by Samantha Warne (book about children with disability, not neurospicy specific)
• Alexander the Avoider by Nicole Filippone
• Roseanne the Seeker by Nicole Filippone
• Paisley the Perfectionist by Nicole Filippone
• Some Brains by Nelly Thomas
• The Me You Don’t See by Sam Matthews
• The Big Hungry Tree by Jo Rothwell
• Unmasking Milie by Millie Carr & Polina Povshedna
• Forgetful Freddie by Manisha J Poudyal & Jonathon Klassen
• Why Johnny Doesn’t Flap: NT is OK! by Clay Morton, Gail Morton & Alex Merry
• Don’t Tell Me What to Do by Renee Connoulty

Middle Grade Non Fiction

• Perfectly Weird, Perfectly You by Camilla Pang

The post Neurospicy Books appeared first on There's a J In there... Somewhere!.

Yes, I write them, so justify buying them even though my kids are adults, however they are all kinds of amazing. The way the author and illustrator work together to tell stories that entertain and educate readers of all ages is something special.

I didn’t set out to collect picture books. It started when my kids were small. They were obsessed with pirates, dinosaurs, and trains, so we bought picture books on those topics. Then tastes changed and they grew up, but I couldn’t bring myself to part with most of the picture books, keeping ones that were special.

Then my nephews came on the scene and would visit often. They would be here for storytime, so I added to my collection with some that looked like fun. Even during lockdowns, my nephews would Facetime me and ask for stories from my collection… often starting with The Monster at the End of this Book featuring Grover, and then letting me read some bother books on my shelves.

When I got back into creative writing and immersed myself in creating picture books, I would buy copies of books by my friends, as well as picture books on the themes of the stories I was writing to get a feel for what else was out there. This has continued to the present day.

This collection has grown over the years and doesn’t show many signs of slowing down. I have purchased more books as well as been gifted some. My family and friends know that an amazing picture book will always be a welcome gift. For a while I did book reviews and received copies of picture books to review, not to mention my friends continuing to publish some amazing titles.

A while ago, I was challenged to count my collection and there were nearly 300 books! This did not include those I have downloaded on kindle.

There is something special about curling up with a child to read a picture book. There is also something special about immersing yourself in the pages of a beautiful picture book.

I have also found that picture books are great when my neurospicy brain is tired from too much stimulation and I really want to read. The story is short, and the pictures help tell the story.

Remember: you are never too old to enjoy a picture book, on your own or with someone else.

Do you have any favourite picture books I should check out & add to my collection? (assuming it’s not already there)

The featured image is just some of my picture book collection!

The post Picture book collection appeared first on There's a J In there... Somewhere!.