Common Sense Media Review
Joyous book models families with disabilities at play.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 3+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Read
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's the Story?
Opening with a joyful montage of children and adults with disabilities, THIS IS HOW WE PLAY models different ways a family, household, or group of people with disabilities engage in play. From ball games to parks, from homes to hospitals, the story doesn't follow a particular character but rather presents various settings where people—mostly parents, grandparents, and children— with visible and invisible disabilities adapt to their circumstances and enjoy their activity together. With highly-detailed, vibrant illustrations, young readers will find a lot to notice and inspire questions. Child-friendly answers and helpful talking points are provided in informative guides found in the back.
Is It Any Good?
Brimming with cheer and informed by the authors' own lived experiences, this picture book allows readers to see inside different ways that play can be enjoyed by people with disabilities. Within real-life context of struggles, illnesses, or challenges that people with disabilities experience, the scenes in this is How We Play are joyous but also tender: Such as a child with a prosthetic limb scoring in basketball or a mother in a hospital bed playing a board game with her child. This wonderfully-illustrated book and thoughtful text normalizes visible and invisible differences and brings an important focus to adaptations and accessibility. Families who long to see their own lives reflected in a book will delight at this one. For young readers introduced to disabilities for the first time, this book and its guides are a perfect entry point for discussion, inclusion, and compassion.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about favorite activities they enjoy together. Can you find any of these same activities in This Is How We Play? What is similar or different in how you do these things together?
Families can read about the different disabilities included in the story in the guide and discover more in your own research. Did you notice anything in the story that you haven't seen before? Did you learn something new? Do you have other questions you might like to ask or learn more about?
Compassion means to have genuine feelings for other people's struggles. Can you remember a time you struggled with something you wanted to do but couldn't? Did you have to adapt or did someone show compassion and help you? How can this help you feel compassionate towards other people's struggles?
Book Details
- Authors :
- Illustrator : Kayla Harren
- Genre : Picture Book
- Topics : Activism , Adventures , Friendship
- Character Strengths : Empathy
- Book type : Non-Fiction
- Publisher : Dial Books
- Publication date : September 24, 2024
- Publisher's recommended age(s) : 3 - 7
- Number of pages : 40
- Available on : Audiobook (unabridged), Hardback, Apple Books, Kindle
- Last updated : April 19, 2026
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