Boo’s Beard

October 25, 2015 / 9 Comments

Boo’s Beard is an adorable book written by Rose Mannering and illustrated by Bethany Straker. This is a book that aims to help kids understand social disabilities like Autism and Asperger’s syndrome. While the book over simplifies Autism and Asperger’s syndrome, there is enough there to get the ball rolling on the subject. Alice is 4-years-old and doesn’t grasp Autism or Asperger’s; but it never hurts to start early explaining the meaning of facial expressions.

Tom can’t read facial expressions, so he doesn’t understand the other children and they don’t understand him. Playing at the park can be lonely sometimes, but luckily Tom has his dog, Boo, and Boo is easy to understand. She wags her tail when she is happy and whines when she is sad.

One day, Boo gets her beard all knotted up in the bushes. A little girl named Lydia sees Boo and stops to talk to Tom. Boo’s beard has been tangled into a big smile, and Lydia explains to Tom that it’s the expression that someone makes when she is happy. She twists Boo’s beard into more expressions, explaining each one as she goes. When Lydia invites Tom and Boo to play on the swings with the kids, Tom and Boo join her. And at the end of the book, Tom understands the meaning of his own smile.

This book familiarizes children with social disabilities, such as autism and Asperger’s syndrome. Children learn the meaning of facial expressions and are introduced to the possibility that some children may have difficulty interacting with them.

About the Author
Rose Mannering is an English writer and international author. She writes both YA and children’s fiction, and her first picture book with illustrator Bethany Straker, entitled The Spotty Dotty Daffodil, was published in 2014. She lives in Kent, England, with naughty twin doggies called Boo and Delilah who don’t like having their beards brushed!IMG_3814

About the Illustrator 
Bethany Straker is an illustrator of picture books and magazines. Her work often leans toward the humorous and has been described as “somewhere between the stylings of a Steve Fiorilla and a Mike Judge series” (filmography.com). She enjoys the little visual details that others may not notice, loves drawing the grotesque, and champions the underdog. She resides in Kent, England, with her husband and son.
Alice is at an age when she can begin to understand when someone is sad and when someone is mad and so on. Using Boo’s Beard makes it easy to talk about kids that don’t make friends easily and how she can help those kids.

The illustrations are super cute and fun. Boo is an adorable dog a dog with a beard of course!!  Tom’s new friend Lydia, uses Boo’s beard to make him look happy, angry, confused and more. Each of the facial expressions helps to teach Tom about facial expressions. By the end of the book Tom begins to understand the meaning of his own smile.

Alice is a major dog lover, so this book was a huge hit cover to cover. She laughed with each of the pictures of Boo and his silly faces.

Publisher: Sky Pony Press
Author: Rose Mannering
Illustrated: Bethany Straker
Publication Date: 10-6-2015
ISBN-10:1634502078
ISBN-13:9781634502078
Number of Pages: 32 Pages
Book Type: Hardcover
Size: 10½” by 8″

You can find Boo’s Beard on Amazon Barnes and Noble and other bookstores.

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9 Comments

  • Diane K. Brimmer

    February 28, 2020 at 10:44 am Reply

    That is such a great book! My son had a couple friends with Asperger’s and Autism. He had a hard time understanding the different moods. I am glad to see that they have books out that can actually help children with understanding their friends with special needs.

  • Rosie

    October 25, 2015 at 10:02 am Reply

    This does sound like a good book to get. I think it is good to help children learn to be aware of, and sensitive to, the situation that there are ppl with challenges that may not be obvious, that could be why they seem different or not easy to understand, and this book does it in a cute and fun way!

  • KATE SARSFIELD

    October 25, 2015 at 7:35 am Reply

    Hear, hear! It’s great that ‘ordinary’ children are being introduced to these concepts from an early age – makes my job so much easier!

  • Kelly O

    October 25, 2015 at 7:22 am Reply

    What a great book. I have a few friends that have children on the spectrum. Teaching my kids to interact with them, in a loving way, is at times difficult. I love that more and more resources are becoming available to do that.

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