05/05/2026
✨ BOOK SPOTLIGHT ✨
“What Happened to You?” By James Catchpole, illustrated by Karen George
Join Joe as he plays his favorite game at the park - pirates! Another child at the park comes over and says “You’ve only got one leg! What happened to you?” But Joe doesn’t answer the question. Instead he responds with “What do you think?” Soon other kids on the playground join in their conversation and start making guesses about what happened to Joe’s leg. None of them are right. Pretty soon Joe gets frustrated. He doesn’t want to talk about it anymore. So he goes back to playing his make believe pirate game. Then one of the kids joins in with Joe’s game. Then all the kids join in the game! It turns out you don’t need to know why someone has one leg. You can still play make believe pirate games with them. 🏴☠️
This book brings up a topic that can feel tricky to talk about. It grabbed the interest of my students in an instant. It sparked a discussion about how all bodies are different. And sometimes we can see the differences and sometimes we can’t.
There’s even a letter to adults in the back from the author. It includes helpful suggestions for talking about disabilities with young children.
Highly recommend adding this one to your collection or check it out from your local library!
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