Book Review: " Ian's Walk"

Lears, Laurie. Ian's Walk, A Story about Autism. Morton Grove, IL: Albert Whitman and Company, 1998.

Ian's Walk is a story that follows two sisters and their brother, Ian, as they go for a walk to the park. The book focuses mainly on the relationship between Ian and his sister Julie. Julie seems to be at times frustrated with Ian's differences and having a brother that demands a lot of attention. As the trio walks to the park, Julie points out the differences about Ian that can sometimes be embarrassing and difficult to explain. Along the way, she explains that "Ian smells things differently," or "hears things differently." While at the park, Julie is in charge of watching Ian when he suddenly is no where to be found. Julie and her sister search nervously for Ian. Julie tries to think like he does, and eventually finds him in his favorite spot near the bells. After Julie's close encounter with losing Ian she realizes how much she cares about her brother and begins to accept and understand his differences. They decide to walk home the way Ian likes to, and try to see things his way by not only accepting but also participating in the quirky habits that Ian enjoys, such as watching the ceiling fan at the local diner.

Ian's walk would be a helpful book to use in order to bring awareness to siblings, or other children about children with autism. In the beginning, Julie struggles with Ian's differences, but as the book continues, Julie begins to see that it is Ian's differences that makes him special, and accepts Ian for the special person he is. Julie's struggles and frustrations in the beginning of the book are something that many children may relate to when living with siblings that have developmental disabilities, and may help them to see the positive things about having a special sibling like Ian. The author also provides a note about autism in the beginning of her book that explains the challenges of having a sibling with autism and the difficulty one can have when trying to explain autism to others. This note is a great forward to the book, and would be helpful for parents of autistic children, or anyone that is having difficulty explaining or understanding the responsibility, and important life lessons that can come out of having a child with autism in their lives. Laurie Lears has written many good books focusing on children with developmental disabilities, such as Nathan’s Wish, however, Ian's Walk was awarded the Dolly Gray Children's Literature Award. This award is presented to children's literature that positively portrays characters with developmental disabilities.