Jay and Ben

Review
By Julienne Balmer, Special Education Teacher

I had a wonderful experience teaching a group of kindergarten students with Autism. Over the school year I purchased a book geared towards younger children with developmental disabilities, Jay and Ben by Lulu Delacre and Katherine Swanson. One day, I decided to read the book and have the students take turns finding the picture cards to go with the story. (I laminated and stuck Velcro to the back of the picture cards). After I read each page, they read and followed along on their own using the picture cards to help them. I was amazed at how well they did and how much they enjoyed this book. They enjoyed how interactive the story was and related to the characters. Jay and Ben quickly became a favorite book among the students and was picked daily to read or look at during free time or self selected reading. I wish there were more books like this!