Sometimes kids need help understanding chronic illness and disability, as well as recognizing and processing their own feelings. We hope these topics are an ongoing discussion in your family, and we love to review children’s books that may help you along the way!
Mama Car
By Lucy Catchpole
Disclaimer if necessary
Mama Car by Lucy Catchpole is a joyful picture book that offers something we don’t see nearly enough in children’s literature: everyday family life with a disabled parent. Told entirely from a young child’s perspective, the book introduces us to the narrator’s trickle, Daddy’s big car, and, most importantly, Mama’s “Mama Car”—her wheelchair.
The “Mama Car” helps Mama get wherever she needs to go, inside and outside of the home. Mama uses her wheelchair to go on an “expedition” to the kitchen, and the wheelchair comes along when the family gets into their big car for adventures away from home. Other adaptive tools, including a grabber and transfer board, appear naturally as part of family life as well. From the child’s perspective, the wheelchair is loved. It’s a place for adventures, games, decorations, and—perhaps most importantly—cuddles.
The author is a disabled mother and wheelchair user, and the book is based on family’s experience. She includes a thoughtful note to adults at the end of the book, where she shares more about her family’s experience with disability and her wheelchair, adding helpful context for parents and caregivers.
For families with a disabled parent, Mama Car offers the opportunity for children to see a family that may look a little bit like their own represented in a picture book. And for children who don’t have personal experience with disability, the book is an introduction to wheelchairs and mobility aids as ordinary tools that help people live their lives. Mama Car is a loving story about the relationship between a child and her mom—and a lovely reminder that disability is a normal part of family life.
📚📚Want to purchase your own copy of “Mama Car”? 📚📚Please use our Amazon Affiliate link by clicking here! Mamas Facing Forward may receive commission at no extra cost to you. Those funds will go towards providing more resources for parents and parents-to-be living with chronic illness, so thanks for using our links!
