By Ella Plaisted

How can dyslexic children appreciate world kid lit? In my previous post, I explored why these readers need world stories too. While we continue to encourage the industry to broaden dyslexia-friendly collections to include world kid lit, we can entice struggling readers to find books that could serve them well today. 

The books below are not dyslexia-friendly editions. What they offer, however, is visual storytelling, along with rhythm, space and clear presentation that can support dyslexic readers. Graphic novels, illustrated narratives and poetry can provide different ways into a story, helping readers stay engaged without simplifying the text. Dual coding – where words and images work together to build meaning – is known to be an excellent way to engage all readers, as discussed by the Schools Library Service. The following stories from France, Germany and Japan engage readers through powerful illustrations, repetition and narrative voice as much as they do through text. They may offer a starting point for young dyslexic readers curious about stories from beyond their own language and culture.

Monsters

Winner of the Prix Sorcières and new from Pushkin Press, Monsters is a striking addition to translated middle-grade fiction. Zouliamis’s hauntingly beautiful black-and-white illustrations immediately transport the reader to an eerie village “at the end of the world.” Here we meet Otto, the main character and narrator. Much of the story unfolds inside Otto’s thoughts as he prepares himself to meet the “Monster of Dreams,” brought to the village by a travelling circus. Otto’s narration creates intimacy with the reader and enables them to keep up without having to track dense dialogue. The sentences are mostly short: “Here it is. Beneath this cloth. Inside this cage. You cannot see it. Not yet. But it is right here.”

The deliberate repetition of parallel structures creates a rhythm that carries the reader forward. “Time and again, they almost found us. Time and again, we hid.” 

With relatively little text, the story has a graphic-novel feel, which helps balance the black-on-white presentation and serif typeface by reducing the amount of dense text on the page. The font size is comfortably large at 14pt, with generous line spacing. Télérama describes it as “An intriguing atmosphere, where the strange and familiar mingle… The power of the story and illustrations give wings to the reader’s imagination.” Interest age: 8+

My Trip with Drip

Winner of the Max and Moritz Prize, My Trip with Drip tells the story of an unlikely friendship between a gruff wolf and a bunny undergoing cancer treatment. It’s a road-trip of sorts, but also a story about companionship and resilience.

Josephine Mark’s illustrations do much of the storytelling. The panels are expressive – often funny, sometimes touching – and they enable the meaning to come through gesture and expression, not just through dialogue. 

The dialogue comes in short bursts, and the pacing feels steady and manageable. While the story touches on illness, it does so with hope and warmth.

School Library Journal describes it as “A simple, heartwarming story filled with kind and humorous forest creatures that offers readers hope in the face of cancer treatment.” Interest age: 8+

Alyte

Alyte follows the fragile beginnings of a young tadpole left to navigate the natural world alone. We follow his turbulent journey as he meets new friends, each teaching him something about life. A note to readers explains that the original French onomatopoeia has been kept for “graphic and aesthetic reasons” – a choice that neatly introduces readers to translated graphic storytelling. 

As Kirkus notes: “Moreau explores the boundaries between water and air, life and death, nature and ‘lethalyte,’ or ‘death incarnate,’ represented by the road where Alyte’s father was crushed.” Moreau invites readers to look more closely at the wildlife around us, details of which often go unnoticed, and to consider the challenges wildlife must overcome. Interest age: 10+

Are You an Echo? The Lost Poetry of Misuzu Kaneko

Are You an Echo? traces the life and rediscovery of Japan’s much-loved children’s poet Misuzu Kaneko. Most girls were not educated in early-1900s Japan, but Kaneko’s mother made sure her daughter could read and write. The first half of the book shares Kaneko’s life story and the search for her lost poems, while the second presents 25 poems in English alongside the original Japanese, brought to life with Hajiri’s vivid illustrations.

The poems are short and rhythmic, often using repetition or sound play, which can make them easier to digest than longer prose. The poems also offer a glimpse into a very different culture. 

Kaneko’s awareness of everything around her may resonate with inquisitive young readers. In her poem “Fish,” for example, she feels sorry for the fish in the sea: “no one looks after them; they do no harm. And yet, here I am about to eat one.” 

Jennie Zbrizher at Global Literature in Libraries Initiative says: “The translations highlight the simple charm and sincerity of Misuzu‘s poems, which brim with empathy for all living things.” Interest age: 7+

About Ella Plaisted

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