What Happened To You?

“Joe spends his morning frequenting the park,Playing a fearsome pirate, capturing a shark.Taunting crocs, then out of the blue…A girl come along and asks ‘What happened to you?’Now pirates, on the whole, don’t like to be disturbed.And the interruption left Joe a little perturbed.You see, Joe has one leg, which made the girl ask,While joe was enjoying his treasure hunting task.Was it a burglar? Was it a shark?Did it fall off? Is it lost in the park?Why does it matter? Enough of the chat.Let’s play pirates! And the kids seemed happy with that.”Joe loves to play in the park where his imagination runs wild! As a pirate, with his trusty sword, he partakes in a fierce battle against the sharks and the crocodiles. That is until a young girl approaches (stepping on his imaginary shark) and announces:“You’ve only got one leg!”Then followed the inevitable question:“What happened to you?”Now Joe is in the middle of a ferocious battle with the sharks and doesn’t have time for such silly questions! And the more children pipe up with the same questions and even more imaginative suggestions as to where his leg has gone. Was it stolen? Did it fall off? Did the Sharks get it?Joe just wants to play! He becomes overwhelmed with the interest in him…Then the same girl from before notices something much more interesting… A Crocodile…Pirate Joe springs into action! The children grab their swords and restart the battle and all conversations of legs suddenly don’t matter!As a teacher for many years, one of the most wonderful things about the job is the children’s curiosity! You can be teaching the most incredible lesson about the circulatory system when a hand goes up:“Sir, do you have a wife?”“Sir, have you watched Guardians of the galaxy?”“Sir, do you have Tiktok?” (What is this tiktok of which they speak.)“Sir, did you watch the Villa match?” (Yes I did)And aside from the curiosity, you also get such wonderful unashamed optimism and innocence. Again you could be reading a wonderful story to Reception and half way through a hand goes up:“Sir it was my mum’s birthday last weekend.” (Cue everyone wanting to share when their mum’s birthday is.)“Sir, my favourite colour is green.” (Cue everyone wanting to share their favourite colour.)“Sir, my mum says that she doesn’t like Peter’s mum.” (Cue Peter crying)Now aside from the internal screaming or outward laughing, these are the stories you go back home and tell your families but also the ones you’ll remember.Why am I sharing all this? Because while I thought this book was going to be about a boy with one leg and disability awareness (which it also is), it was more about the inevitable and incessant questions and words that wonderfully fly out of the mouths of children when their curiosity is piqued but may not necessarily be appropriate or empathetic.Told in such a lovely, often humorous, way, it explores how children are naturally curious in their way of understanding the world but that what is their unusual, is someone else’s normal.It also highlights the wonderful notion that children don’t create segregation, they are accepting of race, background, disability – they bond over play, joy, laughs, shared interests. What I thought particularly poignant was how the children were not referred to by names while they were seeing Joe for his missing leg, but then once they bonded over a really good game of pirates, their names were revealed signifying how they had understood each other.It explored how we didn’t need to know what had happened to Joe’s leg in order to build a connection and although Joe may feel like it is an important part of who he is, it doesn’t have to be his one defining feature. What I thought was particularly powerful is how you never find out what happened to his leg because that wasn’t important and it’s not the point of the story.What really challenged my thinking in a brilliant way was how so many picture books have a theme of ‘celebrating difference’, this almost turns it on it’s head with ‘celebrating and finding the similarities – the common ground.’ I definitely see how this would have a wonderful place in many a PSHE lesson in primary school.I have to comment on Karen George’s lovely illustrations and the clever way that she distinguishes her visuals of the reality and also the children’s imagination combined.An extra special element of the book is the last page where James offers advice to parents when their child might inexplicably shout out the questions. A really personal page coming from lived experiences is advice we should all take on board.A wonderful children’s book, beautifully illustrated that celebrates children’s curiosity while introducing empathy and embracing our similarities and looking for the things that connect us. Equally, its a great way to talk and introduce disability to children so many they don’t have those ‘shout out’ moment the next time they see a disabled person in a shop.

A very important book. One every household who cares about empathy should own. A book that validates the feelings of a disabled child who is constantly bombarded with questions about what happened to them when all they want to do is play. (Something my son encounters far too much) It's more than just that though, it's funny, enjoyable to read, beautifully illustrated, it enables important questions and topics to be discussed about disability, differences, how others may feel, what is polite, what is necessary to know or indeed not! This book brilliantly shows that curiosity should never be placed above someone else's comfort (disabled people are not teachable moments!). This book could have been heavy and more of a learning tool, but it's not! Great picture book with a strong and important message. Very helpful section in the back to help parents navigate and avoid potentially awkward moments when children may LOUDLY point out someone's differences. We absolutely love it in our house!P.s. Finally a book that centres a disabled child (written by a disabled author #ownvoices), a brilliant antidote to the potentially harmful "just ask".

This is a beautifully illustrated book about a little boy, Joe, who loves playing pirates, while dodging sharks and crocodiles. He would quite like to have other kids to play with, but they are only interested in what happened to his leg. Did I mention that swashbuckling Joe was one-legged? Anyway, the kids keep coming up with more and more fanciful ideas about what happened to Joe’s other leg, and Joe becomes more and more upset.Eventually, Sonia introduces herself to Joe, they start to play together, and the other kids all join in playing pirates.Sonia realises that Joe does not appreciate being asked about his leg all the time, and more importantly, realises that she doesn’t need to know about the leg – just about the games she can play with Joe, and how to be his friend.I imagine that it is very distressing for a child who is different, for whatever reason – to constantly be reminded of their difference, and to be asked continually to justify themselves, particularly by strangers at loud volume.Children are curious – and often tactless. Sometimes they need to be reminded that their questions and comments can really hurt. For some children, their questions may arise out of fear – could this happen to me? – and a calm explanation may put their mind at rest. But, children (and all people) need to learn that there are polite ways of asking. In particular, get to know the PERSON before intruding on their personal circumstances.There are some very helpful suggestions for parents (and children) at the end of the book, about to deal with people who may be differently abled.I am in a wheelchair myself, but am an adult. And people are generally much more circumspect about asking adults why they are disabled. I am always happy to tell people that I have MS, and have only been in a wheelchair for about 3 years – because it explains why I can’t do certain things, and why I get very tired. Every disabled person is different. Some want to be left alone, some want to be very involved in everything. Watch the Paralympics and see what amazing superhuman things that disabled people can accomplish in the sporting arena – but accept that we are not all capable of that. If you think someone needs help – offer. But, accept that your offer may be turned down. And NEVER push a wheelchair unless you have been SPECIFICALLY asked to.I thought this was an excellent book, for children (and adults) of all abilities. Highly recommended.

As a trustee of a charity for limb different children ( LimbBo foundation) and the grandma of a boy aged 6 with a limb difference- I could not love this book more! Tommy has to answer hundreds of questions about his arm, where is it? Why is it missing? This book deals with the issue in a child friendly but realistic way. Humour, brilliant illustrations and the section at the back for parents is spot on. I will be putting a link on our parents page Thank you for this amazing book

This lovely book touches on a sensitive topic, but it is so well pitched for the age group. This is a wonderful way for parents to open up a discussion with their children on disability and how disabled people have a right to privacy - it shouldn't be a given that you can just ask someone what happened to them as that rightly may not be a story they wish to tell.