Children’s book with deaf heroine tops Amazon chart

An inspiring adventure story about a deaf girl and her hearing friend, Daisy and Ted’s Awesome Adventures, has become an Amazon #1 best seller in its first week on sale.

The National Deaf Children’s Society published the book to boost deaf awareness and tackle the lack of diversity in children’s book characters – a cause supported by Gruffalo author and former Children’s Laureate Julia Donaldson, who said:-

“It’s great to see a fun and entertaining picture book which will help to raise awareness of deafness and inspire self-confidence in deaf children.”

The book drew immediate praise on social media when it went on sale this week. Amy Edwards commented that six-year-old Poppy (pictured) was “absolutely loving the book! We enjoyed reading it together and she really related to it. Now I’m donating a copy to the school where I work, to promote deaf awareness.”

Author and illustrator Alex Naidoo also consulted deaf and hearing children at Whitehall Primary in Chingford and Surrey Deaf Children’s Society, to get their seal of approval.

Naeem Ghani, whose daughters took part in the consultation, said: “It’s great for the girls to see someone like themselves in a story; it encourages them and reassures them, as Daisy’s deafness creates some challenges but she always overcomes them.

“There should definitely be more books with deaf characters because we haven’t found anything else like this. It’s helpful for hearing children too, and even parents, to make them more aware and understanding.”

Susan Daniels, Chief Executive of the National Deaf Children’s Society, added: “We believe book characters should be as diverse as the people who read them, but only a handful of children’s stories feature a deaf character.

“Most deaf children have hearing parents and go to a mainstream school where nobody else is deaf, which can be very isolating. Reading about someone like themselves will help them to feel included and understood - but ultimately, Daisy and Ted’s Awesome Adventures is a fun adventure story for any child to enjoy.”

The book is available at ndcs.org.uk/daisyandted. All proceeds help the National Deaf Children’s Society to support the UK’s 45,000 deaf children and their families.

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