The Celiac Kid book for children

The idea that wheat could cause problems for my child sounded absolutely crazy to me. Crazy, even though I knew a family with a child who has celiac disease. Removing gluten from my daughter's diet when she was a toddler was way out there for me, and no one was more amazed than I at the differences in her attention.

We don't know many others on a GFCFSF diet. Other children don't understand. Teachers, parents of the kids' friends, people at church, even family members don't understand it, because they don't live with it.

Now, we have a book that helps explain the gluten-free part of my child's special diet.

Illustrator Anneliesse Bennion sent me a review copy of, "The Celiac Kid" a book for children written by Stephanie Skolmoski. (I was not paid for this review, do not benefit financially should you choose to purchase the book, and am not obligated to provide a positive review.)

Even though my daughter is more than simply gluten-free, this book is useful for us. Li'l Bit was able to make self-to-text comparisons to the child in the story. She understands not being able to eat anything she wants to at a picnic. She even related a story to me about an experience she had in kindergarten. We were able to compare and contrast, too, as the child in the story is able to eat a longer list of foods than Li'l Bit is.

The text is simple; the illustrations are engaging. The child in the story is a kindergartner. Children are introduced to vocabulary words, too. We were able to talk about nutrients, villi & intestines, and nutrition labels.

In addition to being a child-friendly introduction to a child with a new celiac diagnosis, this book would be great to read to school groups, to Sunday School classes, to any group of children who need to understand why a peer can't enjoy the same birthday treats they get. The Celiac Kid would be a welcome book in the lobby of the OT/PT/speech therapy clinic and gastroenterologist's office, too.

The Celiac Kid is a 40-page paperback (the pages are not numbered; I counted them) regularly priced $7.95 and is currently discounted to $6.50, available from DesignAbility Books.