Autistic Planet
by
Jennifer Elder and Marc Thomas
Children's fiction, ages 3-10
I don't know what to make of this book. It seems to make fun of autistic children's behaviors, but maybe the author just meant to show what some autistic children do. I see from the back that it is written by a mother of a child diagnosed with an autistic spectrum disorder.
It is rather insightful how it shows autistic behavior, but I decided not to read it to my child audience because I don't know enough about autism to answer their questions and they might think that by showing children behaving oddly that the author is endorsing obsessive compulsive behaviors.
I would say that this is a book for parents, counselors, and teachers to read, but not for a child to read by him or herself. If someone wants to get into a discussion this might be a launching point, but it doesn't work well as a stand alone book.
