All My Stripes – A Story for Children with Autism

Preschool – Kindergartner Zane shares his sadness about feeling different with his wise and gentle mother. It has been a frustrating day in which Zane has been teased for his various sensory-processing challenges and confused by idiomatic expressions he understands as literal. His mother gently reassures him that, like every zebra, he has many stripes: yes, he has an autism stripe, and he also has stripes indicating his caring nature, his honesty, his curiosity, and more.

This picture book’s text presents autism awareness in a manner that invites and engages both children with that autism stripe as well as their classmates, friends, and siblings without it. Zivoin’s colorful, bouncy illustrations give the zebras varying stripey looks, from Zane’s angular forelock and right-angled belly marks to his mother’s swirls and a classmate’s curlicues. End matter includes explanatory notes for each scene depicted, information for parents about handling social issues with autistic children, and more.