Thomas Loves: A Rhyming Book about Fun, Friendship – and Autism by J. Welton

Authors

  • Sean Borle

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.20361/G25C9D

Abstract

Welton, Jude.  Thomas Loves:  A Rhyming Book about Fun, Friendship – and Autism.  Philadelphia, PA:  Jessica Kingsley Publications, 2015. Print.

This picture book introduces the day-to-day life of a happy kid, who happens to be autistic.  The book starts out presenting Thomas like any other boy, playing with a train.  Slowly we learn that he likes to repeat strange sounding words, can't stand loud noises, has a limited diet, flaps his hands if stressed, and requires a picture-plan of what is going to happen each day. 

The author does not try to make you feel sorry for Thomas or pity him.  It is just an introduction to this particular boy. 

The book is aimed at pre-school children, and both the cartoon pictures by Jane Telford and the rhymed text by Jude Welton will make the book attractive to small children.  It would be a good book to use with children who are in a classroom with an autistic child.  At the end of the book there are author notes that provide facts about autism. 

I highly recommend this book for elementary schools, day cares and public libraries.

Highly Recommended:  4 stars out of 4
Reviewer:  Sean Borle

Sean Borle is a University of Alberta undergraduate student who is an advocate for child health and safety.

Published

2016-05-04

How to Cite

Borle, S. (2016). Thomas Loves: A Rhyming Book about Fun, Friendship – and Autism by J. Welton. The Deakin Review of Children’s Literature, 5(4). https://doi.org/10.20361/G25C9D

Issue

Vol. 5 No. 4 (2016)

Section

Book Reviews

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