Books With Children Who Stutter

Ages 2-4

Harrison, Tracy, Booing Goodnight to Halloween
This is a very short story for very young children (ages 2-4), about a ghost who says b-b-b-boo and feels a little withdrawn about it, but gets supported by his friends. (This story is included as an appendix in Starkweather and Ackerman's new book, Stuttering).

Ages 4-7

Corrigan, Kathy (1984) Emily Umily, Toronto: Annick Press.
"Although this delightful book is written very simply, it captures the essence of preschool. Emily's problem is treated honestly and realistically. Her disfluency is not called stuttering in the book, and there is no indication that the disfluencies are caused by nervousness. Emily is just as disfluent in her mother's lap as she is at school. Her life changes for the better with an attitude change, but there is no immediate change in the speech pattern." (Bushey and Martin, 1988).
Lew, Gail Wilson, (1999) Jeremy and the Hippo, can be purchased though the National Stuttering Association and the cost is $6.00 dollars.
This beautifully illustrated book is about a boy named Jeremy and a hippo that follows him everywhere. Not only does the hippo follow him, but whenever Jeremy stutters the hippo becomes gigantic, causing some embarrassing and funny situations. In the end Jeremy learns to deal with his stuttering and becomes friends with the hippo. Gail Wilson Lew has a private practice in Sierra Madre California where she specializes in working with children and adults who stutter. Her involvements includes workshops for people who stutter and their families, the National Stuttering Association (a national self help group), Pasadena City College Disabled Students Program, School District In-Service Workshops, and writing children's books. Gail herself was once a severe stutterer.
Steinsdottir, Kristin, (1994) Armann og Blida, Asprent, Akureyri
A book about Armann who is six years old and stutters, and his cat, Gentle. Orginally written in Icelandic, Armann and Gentle has been translated into English, and is available from the Stuttering Foundation of America.
Sugarman, Michael (co-founder and former Executive Director of the NSP) and Swain, Kim (1995) The Adventures of Phil Carrot: The Forest of Discord reviewed and recommended by Kenneth St. Louis

Ages 4-10

Lears, Laurie (2000) Ben Has Something to Say: A Story About Stuttering School & Library Binding (Reviews of this book are available from NSA and Whitman but the best price at the time this was added is $11.96 through this link to Amazon
Hague, Kathleen (1981) The Legend of the Veery Bird, San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
"In this story, stuttering is interwoven with timidness and self-consciousness. This stereotype is, perhaps, a minor weakness in the book, but the beauty of the story far outweighs any such shortcoming. (The book) has rich illustrations and an emotionally satisfying plot. It is a lyrical, completely charming, romantic fantasy." (Bushey and Martin, 1988)

Ages 5-9

Christopher, Matt (1975) Glue Fingers Boston/Toronto: Little, Brown, and Company.
A sports story about Billy Joe's courage as he goes out for football. Sometimes this book makes it seem like if you are good at football or brave about something else that it won't matter if you stutter. What do you think about that?
Cosgrove, Stephen (1983) Creole, Los Angeles: Price Stern Sloan.
About an alligator who stutters.
de Geus, Eelco (1999) Sometimes I Just Stutter, translated by Elisabeth Versteegh-Vermeij is a book written especially for children who stutter. You can order a copy from the Stuttering Foundation of America online catalog for $2 or you can read it online free. This book is also available in Spanish, Chinese, Dutch, and Italian!
Kline, Suzie (1992) Mary Marony and the Snake, New York: Putnam
A book about Mary Marony who has a problem with stuttering, and a problem with classmate. With the help of her mother and new classmates, Mary, who is in second grade, sees a speech therapist about her stuttering. Reviewed and recommended by Dylan E., age 7
Kline, Suzie (1993) Mary Marony Hides Out, New York: Putnam.
Mary is so embarrassed about her stuttering that she almost misses a chance to have lunch with her favorite author who has come to speak at the school.
Kline, Suzie (1994) Mary Marony, Mummy Girl, New York: Putnam
Mary wants to be something scary for Halloween so she can get back at Marvin, who makes fun of her stuttering.
Kline, Suzie (1995) Mary Marony and the Chocolate Surprise
Finding Little Bear is a story about a little girl named Ursula, who happens to stutter. This might be an interesting story to read with your speech teacher and talk about. It was written by a student in college, Amanda Pitchford, as an assignment, and is on the internet.
Trouble at Recess - free download from the Stuttering Foundation about being teased.

Ages 9-12

Beard, Darleen Bailey and Christelow, Eileen, (1998) The Flimflam Man (can be ordered through this link if you want )
Based on a 1950 event in Wetumka, Oklahoma, that started their annual Sucker Day. The story features a "con man" and the first person in town to meet him, Bobbie Jo Hailey, a 10 year old who stutters. The book is about swindlers and swindling, friendship and stuttering.
Bunting, Eve, (1980) Blackbird Singing, New York: MacMillan Publishing.
"This story is not about stuttering, but about those dilemmas in life that have no completely satisfactory resolution. Marcus still stutters in the end. The author assumes in the story that the cause of stuttering is psychological stress, but she does not oversimplify the dynamics of this stress by making Marcus a victim of rejection or abuse. Marcus is a loved and valued member of his family and the community. The book captures the profound complexity of both stuttering and life itself." (Bushey and Martin, 1988)
Chambers, Aidan (1980) Seal Secret New York: Harper and Row.
Holland, Isabelle (1977) Alan and the Animal Kingdom Philadelphia: Lippincott.

Ages 9-15

Westbrook, J (1998) Listen With Your Heart: Reflections on Growing up Stuttering ("A unique and powerful contribution to the stuttering community. Such a collection of reflections on the stuttering experience from the perspective of the young people themselves, from their parents, from adults looking back on their childhood, and from clinicians who treat stuttering, exists nowhere else." Amazon). Reviewed and recommended by Lindsey Torri, age 12
Stucley, Elizabeth (1961) The Contrary Orphans New York: Franklin Watts.
"...A wonderful story about the nature of children and, more generally, about the challenge of survival. . . . Frankie becomes fluent as a result of breathing exercises and changing his attitude about the world. This book is a joy to read because it contains genuine and thoughtful observations about children living together and coping with reality." (Bushey and Martin, 1988)
Brown, Alan and Forsberg, Grant (1989) Lost Boys Never Say Die. New York: Delacorte Press
Scheduled to go to camp to work on his stuttering problem while his parents go off to the Arctic, Lewis surreptitiously steals back into his house where he lives a secret life for eight weeks, meeting a new friend who is camping in a nearby woods and who involves Lewis in acting and a new approach to his speech problem and to life. Interesting reading. Discusses feeling and attitudes about growing up and being teased. (Warmka)
Hansen, Joyce, I Thought My Soul Would Rise and Fly - The Reconstruction Era Diary of Patsy (Dear America), Scholastic Trade, 1997.
This Dear America book is about a freed slave girl named Patsy. And guess what? She stutters! Patsy shows courage to speak and I was so surprised about that. Patsy writes about how frustrated she gets with her stuttering. People think she is dumb but she is really very smart. In the book they call stuttering, stammering. (Review submitted by Sarah. (This book also gets very good reviews by lots of kids and can be ordered through this link if you want )
Silverman, Ellen-Marie, Jason's Secret Ages 9-12, Paperback - 213 pages (January 2001)
Frank, Lucy, Lucy Stars (Richard Jackson Books/Atheneum Books for Young Readers, to be released July '05 ) features a 7th grade protagonist who stutters.
Fusco, Kimberly Newton Tending Grace (Alfred A Knopf/Random House), a novel about a teen-age girl who stutters
Vawter, Vince Paper Boy - has received many awards, including a "Newbery Honor Award"

*Several of the books are more thoroughly reviewed in the following article, which has been quoted extensively above:
Bushey, Tahirih and Martin, Richard. Stuttering in children's literature. LSHSS, 1988 Vol 19 #3 pp 235-250.

last modified April 12, 2015