Book Review: All My Stripes (A Story for Children with Autism)

A few months ago, we received word from one of Arizona’s therapists that she had a new children’s book coming out. Because she has made such a difference in our lives and has done amazing work with Arizona, we couldn’t wait to see how the book turned out.

“All My Stripes, A story for Children with Autism ” is a children’s book about Zane the Zebra who feels different than his classmates and laments to his mother, “Nobody gets me, Mama!” The tale ends up with Zane appreciating all of his stripes, especially his “autism stripe” because he realizes that every part of him makes him the unique and special person that he is.

I especially relate to this book because it uses extremely accurate examples of what a day in the life might be like for a child with autism. Throughout the story, Zane experiences sensory processing challenges (not liking when his hooves touch paint, feeling overwhelmed and scared when the loud fire alarm goes off), social communication issues (not knowing how to start a conversation with friends) and more. The end of the book talks about all of Zane’s individual strengths and how it makes him a perfectly amazing little zebra.

I applaud the message in this book! Having a child on the autism spectrum is both a blessing and a challenge. The more tools and resources we are given as parents to help our children feel like they are not alone will always be endorsed by me.