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Robin and the White Rabbit: A Story to Help Children with Autism to Talk about their Feelings and Join In
In this tale we meet a child sitting alone, feeling unable to join in with the other schoolchildren having fun in the playground. Feeling frustrated and lonely, the child's emotions build up until they form a bubble around them, separating them entirely. Who can help the child? Suddenly a White Rabbit appears, who presents easy and playful ways to get the child to express their feelings. Each time the child says what they like and don't like, it helps to create a hole in the bubble, opening the child up to the wider world. Through delightful illustrations and photographs, this picture book helps children who struggle with social isolation find a way to communicate with those around them. It can be read by children themselves or with adults as a learning tool, helping children learn to express their feelings through the use of visual communication cards.
48 pages, Hardcover
Published June 21, 2017
15 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
June 28, 2017
Sitting alone in the playground, in the shade of a tree, Robin watches his schoolmates play. He has a plethora of feelings and emotions he is unable to verbalize. Children on the Autism Spectrum often have difficulty describing their thoughts and preferences. A white rabbit provides a method for Robin's self discovery. Using visual communication via picture cards, Robin can create a list of playground activities he likes and dislikes. The favorite list can then be filtered further. Classmates, especially at young ages, can be instrumental in including him once his preferences are known.
Authors Ase Brunnstrom and Emma Lindstrom have created a platform for parents and teachers to discuss visualization and verbalization at home and within a school setting. Children on the Autism Spectrum may have a greater ability to use picture cards to accurately describe their feelings and preferences. Robin's story of exclusion and his swirling emotions have made him confused and unhappy. The kind, gentle approach of the white rabbit presents a non-threatening, non-judgmental approach allowing Robin to be in touch with his feelings. "Robin and the White Rabbit: A Story to Help Children with Autism to Talk about their Feelings and Join In" is an excellent picture book for children and an outstanding resource for teachers and parents.
Thank you Jessica Kingsley Publishers and Net Galley for the opportunity to read and review "Robin and the White Rabbit".
Authors Ase Brunnstrom and Emma Lindstrom have created a platform for parents and teachers to discuss visualization and verbalization at home and within a school setting. Children on the Autism Spectrum may have a greater ability to use picture cards to accurately describe their feelings and preferences. Robin's story of exclusion and his swirling emotions have made him confused and unhappy. The kind, gentle approach of the white rabbit presents a non-threatening, non-judgmental approach allowing Robin to be in touch with his feelings. "Robin and the White Rabbit: A Story to Help Children with Autism to Talk about their Feelings and Join In" is an excellent picture book for children and an outstanding resource for teachers and parents.
Thank you Jessica Kingsley Publishers and Net Galley for the opportunity to read and review "Robin and the White Rabbit".
July 29, 2017
I would like to thank Edelweiss and Jessica Kingsley Publishers for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
It is rare that I find children’s books that discusses autism and how the protagonist who has autism deals with it. So, imagine my surprise and delight when I found out that Edelweiss has a copy of a children’s book that deals with autism called “Robin and the White Rabbit” by Åse Brunnström and Emma Lindström and man, was I impressed by this inspiring children’s book!
Meet Robin!
Robin is a young girl who often has trouble expressing her true feelings as her emotions seems bottled up inside of her (or in this case, are shown as words that swirl around her) and she has problems with communicating with other children because of this. One day, when Robin goes and sits underneath a tree by herself while the other children are playing on the playground, a white rabbit suddenly comes up and offers Robin a way to communicate her feelings by showing her pictures of her favorite activities and making a chart that shows what activities she likes and what activities she does not like.
Wow! I was quite impressed with this book as it was both creative and inspiring at the same time! It is rare that I have read a book that deals with autism and Åse Brunnström and Emma Lindström have both done a wonderful job at writing this story as they show what autism is like and how you can help anyone who has autism express their feelings more clearly. I like the fact that Robin becomes friends with a white rabbit who truly helps Robin cope with her autism. I especially loved the way that the rabbit helps Robin by showing her pictures of various activities that she could play and placing them on a chart that tells the audience what activities she likes and what activities she does not like. This activity would certainly help a parent or a teacher understand about how to deal with children or other people who have autism and gain a better understanding of what having autism is like. I will admit that I was a little curious about whether or not the white rabbit is a figment of Robin’s imagination or really exists in that world, but because I loved the idea about this book exploring autism and the white rabbit helping Robin deal with her autism, I eventually did not mind where the white rabbit came from. Emma Lindström’s artwork is highly creative as the artwork has a mixture of watercolor drawn characters mixed with realistic photos which gives the story a unique atmosphere. I also loved the images of the white rabbit itself as it is drawn in a cute way and I loved seeing the little blue bag it carries as it makes me interested in seeing what the white rabbit has in its bag!
Overall, “Robin and the White Rabbit” is a truly cute and inspiring story that would be great for parents and teachers who are dealing with children and loved ones with autism and it is definitely a children’s book that is worth checking out! I would recommend this book to children ages four and up since there is nothing inappropriate in this book.
Review is also on: Rabbit Ears Book Blog
It is rare that I find children’s books that discusses autism and how the protagonist who has autism deals with it. So, imagine my surprise and delight when I found out that Edelweiss has a copy of a children’s book that deals with autism called “Robin and the White Rabbit” by Åse Brunnström and Emma Lindström and man, was I impressed by this inspiring children’s book!
Meet Robin!
Robin is a young girl who often has trouble expressing her true feelings as her emotions seems bottled up inside of her (or in this case, are shown as words that swirl around her) and she has problems with communicating with other children because of this. One day, when Robin goes and sits underneath a tree by herself while the other children are playing on the playground, a white rabbit suddenly comes up and offers Robin a way to communicate her feelings by showing her pictures of her favorite activities and making a chart that shows what activities she likes and what activities she does not like.
Wow! I was quite impressed with this book as it was both creative and inspiring at the same time! It is rare that I have read a book that deals with autism and Åse Brunnström and Emma Lindström have both done a wonderful job at writing this story as they show what autism is like and how you can help anyone who has autism express their feelings more clearly. I like the fact that Robin becomes friends with a white rabbit who truly helps Robin cope with her autism. I especially loved the way that the rabbit helps Robin by showing her pictures of various activities that she could play and placing them on a chart that tells the audience what activities she likes and what activities she does not like. This activity would certainly help a parent or a teacher understand about how to deal with children or other people who have autism and gain a better understanding of what having autism is like. I will admit that I was a little curious about whether or not the white rabbit is a figment of Robin’s imagination or really exists in that world, but because I loved the idea about this book exploring autism and the white rabbit helping Robin deal with her autism, I eventually did not mind where the white rabbit came from. Emma Lindström’s artwork is highly creative as the artwork has a mixture of watercolor drawn characters mixed with realistic photos which gives the story a unique atmosphere. I also loved the images of the white rabbit itself as it is drawn in a cute way and I loved seeing the little blue bag it carries as it makes me interested in seeing what the white rabbit has in its bag!
Overall, “Robin and the White Rabbit” is a truly cute and inspiring story that would be great for parents and teachers who are dealing with children and loved ones with autism and it is definitely a children’s book that is worth checking out! I would recommend this book to children ages four and up since there is nothing inappropriate in this book.
Review is also on: Rabbit Ears Book Blog
June 22, 2017
This is a book designed to help parents and children on the Autism Spectrum to know and understand communicating with pictures. I, as a lay person therefore will not judge this book, but say, if you need, check into it. I agree, i have seen nothing similar written for both children and partners. (the 3 star rating is because i have to give it a rating and I shall stay neutral.)
July 24, 2022
Robin and the White Rabbit tells the story of a young child who struggles to communicate and do things the way other children do them. A rabbit befriends this child and shows how a picture communication system can help empower children with autism and other communication differences to be able to communicate more effectively.
I found the art style interesting - the background are real photographs while the characters are drawn. It is not my favorite art style but it is different from the norm and can possibly help children relate the story to their real-life surroundings.
Overall, I think this is.a heartfelt book but I don't think it would be helpful in explaining the purpose of PECS. The book ends abruptly, the rabbit just shows Robin how to communicate their favorite recess activity and then they climb a tree together. I would have liked it a lot more if Robin had used the cards to communicate their feelings or interact with another child. I also did not like how adults in the book were berating Robin and comparing them to other children and this is never confronted. I also felt like if the emotions had been identified with picture cards as well that would have been helpful, the illustrations just have the emotions written around Robin but if the premise is that pictures help children with autism, those emotions really should have had pictures with them.
Note: I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley. I was not compensated in any other fashion for the review and the opinions reflected below are entirely my own. Special thanks to the publisher and author for providing the copy.
I found the art style interesting - the background are real photographs while the characters are drawn. It is not my favorite art style but it is different from the norm and can possibly help children relate the story to their real-life surroundings.
Overall, I think this is.a heartfelt book but I don't think it would be helpful in explaining the purpose of PECS. The book ends abruptly, the rabbit just shows Robin how to communicate their favorite recess activity and then they climb a tree together. I would have liked it a lot more if Robin had used the cards to communicate their feelings or interact with another child. I also did not like how adults in the book were berating Robin and comparing them to other children and this is never confronted. I also felt like if the emotions had been identified with picture cards as well that would have been helpful, the illustrations just have the emotions written around Robin but if the premise is that pictures help children with autism, those emotions really should have had pictures with them.
Note: I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley. I was not compensated in any other fashion for the review and the opinions reflected below are entirely my own. Special thanks to the publisher and author for providing the copy.
February 24, 2021
I was really excited at first because I loved the art style, paintings of the characters placed over background photographs, and it seemed like it was going to be a fantasy or magical realism story about the autistic girl finding a rabbit friend, but actually it was just an illustrated guide to using picture cards. Possibly useful for that very specific situation, but not actually a story.
August 25, 2017
The other children were playing football, but Robin sat alone under a tree.
Suddenly a white rabbit appeared.
See review with pictures here
Books like these are so important, especially with greater inclusion in mainstream schools. The likelihood is that you have a child on the autistic spectrum in your class, or your child will have a classmate on the autistic spectrum. Find out more about autism here.
This book is useful to discuss how people communicate in a variety of ways and to help build bridges of communication with children who could struggle to express their feelings in words. I think this book could help other children in the class to understand communicating visually and why that might help some of their classmates when they are struggling to find the right words.
Words were tumbling around in Robin's head.
Robin felt lots of different things at the same time.
Robin wished that someone could understand these feelings.
What I liked: The inclusive message, the book spreads knowledge of autism and helps children and educators understand one perspective better.
Even better if: The illustrations are cute and effective, but not my favourite style. I would have liked to see a strategy for Robin to interact with his or her classmates, building upon the communication with the rabbit.
How you could use it in your classroom: Read it to your class (even if they don't have a classmate on the autism spectrum). The chances are they will know someone who is, or will in the future. It is important to help children understand that people communicate in different ways and help them learn to be patient with others.
(Thank you to Netgalley and Jessica Kingsley Publishers for my review copy)
Suddenly a white rabbit appeared.
See review with pictures here
Books like these are so important, especially with greater inclusion in mainstream schools. The likelihood is that you have a child on the autistic spectrum in your class, or your child will have a classmate on the autistic spectrum. Find out more about autism here.
This book is useful to discuss how people communicate in a variety of ways and to help build bridges of communication with children who could struggle to express their feelings in words. I think this book could help other children in the class to understand communicating visually and why that might help some of their classmates when they are struggling to find the right words.
Words were tumbling around in Robin's head.
Robin felt lots of different things at the same time.
Robin wished that someone could understand these feelings.
What I liked: The inclusive message, the book spreads knowledge of autism and helps children and educators understand one perspective better.
Even better if: The illustrations are cute and effective, but not my favourite style. I would have liked to see a strategy for Robin to interact with his or her classmates, building upon the communication with the rabbit.
How you could use it in your classroom: Read it to your class (even if they don't have a classmate on the autism spectrum). The chances are they will know someone who is, or will in the future. It is important to help children understand that people communicate in different ways and help them learn to be patient with others.
(Thank you to Netgalley and Jessica Kingsley Publishers for my review copy)
September 6, 2017
Robin And The White Rabbit: A story to help children with Autism to talk about their feelings and join in by Emma Lindström & Åse Brunström; Illustrated by Emma Lindström
This is a very engaging book for children, parents and teachers to help children with Autism to communicate their feelings more clearly and to enable them to fit in more comfortably with their peers. To accompany the text, there are some great illustrated effects. One of my favorites, is the clear bubble that Robin is inside, given a pictorial depiction of alone-ness and separation. The illustrations, which are a cross between realism and cartoon, are sweet and I do like how the main character, Robin, is quite androgynous and therefor quite gender-less, making the book very open minded and inclusive. To bring Robin out of confusion and distress, the kind white rabbit
offers a non-threatening and simple visual system that can be used to help express feelings. This is beneficial for many children on the spectrum, as they find picture cards an accessible way to describe their feelings. These pictures offer them choices which can always be rearranged to allow for change.
This book is an excellent resource for families and schools. I highly recommend it, not only for children on the spectrum, but also as a tool for opening up the dialogue with young children on how to be more aware of other peoples needs and how there is not just one way to learn something.
November 18, 2017
Robin and the White Rabbit is a book for a specific audience, but it’s honest, heartfelt, and interesting.
March 17, 2018
A book that suggests to parents and children on the Autism Spectrum to use pictures for making it easy to understand and communicate.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews