Flap Your Hands

A Celebration of Stimming
By Steve Asbell
Hardcover: $20.95

This fascinating, groundbreaking picture book by an autistic creator celebrates stims–the repetitive movements that provide focused stimulation to people on the autistic spectrum.

Description

When you’re feeling overwhelmed
And the world’s too much to bear…
If your feelings bubble over
But they have no place to go…
Maybe it would help to move!
Want to try a stim?

When four neurodivergent kids face some stressful moments, they use body movements called stims to self-regulate their emotions. One boy tickles the space next to his face; a girl flutters her fingers by her ears; another boy kicks his feet like splashy flippers; another girl directs her hands like a conductor! As the children say fun words, flap their hands, and engage in other stims, their actions build in energy and joyousness until their inner calm is restored.

Delightful text and color-drenched illustrations by debut author-illustrator Steve Asbell invites other neurodivergent readers to join in on the action. Flap Your Hands is a wonderful celebration and reminder that stimming is a natural and healthy thing to do!

About the Creators

Steve Asbell

Steve Asbell was diagnosed with autism and draws a comic strip called Stimmy Kitty that shares childhood experiences through an autistic lens. As a member of SCBWI, he was won the Rising Kite Award for illustrations. He lives near Jacksonville, Florida, where he can be found drawing and gardening with his family. You can also find him online at steveasbell.com.

Reviews

  • "This is big. This is huge. The impact that this book could have on a kid is incredible. And EVERY educator needs to read it! This book is so simple, yet it says so much! A mirror, a window, a sliding door. . . a revolution. The great taboo of stimming is broken! Within these pages, the shaming is cast into the dustbin of history and the celebration has begun!"

    - Tom Angleberger, author of the New York Times bestselling Origami Yoda series
  • "Normalizing, destigmatizing stimming with these beautiful examples. . . I absolutely recommend this book: 5 stars, fantastic, with a flap, flap, flap. Go get your copy today!"

    - Kaz Windness, award-winning author and illustrator
  • "Children on the spectrum may well recognize some of the comforting and expressive actions described here. Vibrant, impressionistic illustrations created in Photoshop introduce four preliminary scenes of children experiencing sensory overload or overwhelming emotions before launching into gorgeous double-page spreads. . . The short second-person sentences give the text an inviting tone that furthers the book's uplifting and inclusive messaging."

    - Booklist
  • "This is truly a celebration of neurodiversity that goes against decades—perhaps centuries—of stigma and tells kids that stimming isn't just OK; it's liberating. A beautiful book with an important message for autistic children and those who know them."

    - Kirkus Reviews
  • "An arrestingly illustrated introduction to the concept of self-regulatory movement. . . Relying on this emphatic visual manifestation to contextualize feelings of dysregulation, this aptly experiential representation of stimming foregrounds the idea that 'no feeling is too huge to handle—// No noise too jarring to bear—// When everyone's allowed to stim// And celebrate who they are!'"

    - Publishers Weekly

Hardcover

  • ISBN 9781643792002
  • Publication Date Mar 26, 2024
  • Trim Size 8 × 11 in
  • Weight 1 lbs
  • Page Count 40
  • Interests

  • Audience Children
  • BISAC Category 1 JUV / Disabilities & Special Needs
  • BISAC Category 2 JUV / Social Themes / Emotions & Feelings
  • BISAC Category 3 JUV / Diversity & Multicultural
  • Themes Childhood Experiences and Memories, Disabilities, Diversity, Empathy / Compassion, Fiction, Five Senses / Body Parts, Identity / Self Esteem / Confidence, Kindness / Caring, Optimism / Enthusiasm, Overcoming Obstacles, People In Motion, Realistic Fiction, Self Control / Self Regulation
  • Reading Levels

  • Age Range Ages 5 - 10
  • Grade Range Grades K - 5
  • Guided Reading K
  • DRA 20
  • Interest Level Grades K - 5
  • Reading Level 2
  • Bebop Reading Early Fluent
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