Inclusive Education in Early Childhood

This article discusses the relevance of the book 'Princess Pooh' in teaching children about disabilities and inclusive education in early childhood. It explores the themes, language, and message of the book, highlighting its suitability for children between 3 and 5 years of age. The article also examines how disability is included in the book and the impact it can have on creating awareness and empathy among children. Overall, 'Princess Pooh' serves as a valuable resource for teaching children about disabilities and promoting inclusive education in early childhood.

Running head: EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION 1
Inclusive education in early childhood
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Introduction
'Princess pooh' is a picture book, authored by Kathleen M. Muldoon. The book is
about people living with disabilities in a family. The main characters in the book are Patty
Jean Piper and her elder sister Penelope Marie Piper. Themes in the book include; family,
disability, jealousy, sibling rivalry, empathy, humility, and pride as covered in the book.
It's suitable to teach children between 3 and 5 years of age
Relevance of the book
The book’s main characters are the children. This makes the book suitable for
teaching children, as they can be able to identify themselves and put themselves in the
character as if they were their peers (Thompson, 2015).
The pictures used in the book are attractive and eye catching, especially for
children (Montag, 2015). For example, seeing a picture of a child sitting on a wheelchair
communicates a lot to the readers of the text. The children can be able to imagine the
picture in the daily life happenings, just from taking a glimpse on the book’s cover photo.
This makes it easy for the teacher to explain the story to the children (Çer, 2016).
The language is simple and easy to understand. The author has used simple English
vocabularies that merge the understanding of the children. This forms an essential aspect
of a children book (Saxton, 2017).
The story setting is based on everyday experiences and occurrences such as the
playgrounds and parties, which are easy for children to relate, therefore making the book
more understandable for the children (Argent, 2017). Furthermore, the story enhances
readability; the book is exciting and can be read to the children severally without boredom.

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The book takes the children on an imaginary journey in which they can understand
about people living with disabilities (Murris, 2016). Through the activities that princess
and patty engage in throughout the day like playing, patty finds herself in a better position
to understand what a princess is going through. It becomes easy for the author to bring out
the themes clear as she is also disabled, after losing her body strength, which forces her to
adopt a new life as a disabled person of which she finds difficult.
How disability is included in the book
The story reflects how Patty, (the younger sister) is jealous of her elder sister,
Penelope and nicknames her ‘princess pooh,’ from the fact that she sits on the wheelchair,
which Patty calls the ‘throne of wheels’ and tells everyone what to do. Penelope is
physically disabled, and she could not move on her own without the help of a wheelchair.
The attention that she gets from her parents annoys her sister patty, because she is younger
and fighting for a similar level of care with her sister. She does not feel good when she
struggles to carry the purchased, but her father pushes Penelope around the mall like a
princess. Patty does not understand the struggles that Penelope passes through, until one
day, while Penelope falls asleep on the hammock; Patty sneaks out with the wheelchair to
have an experience of what it is to operate in a wheelchair like her sister. Things, however,
did not go as expected as she falls as she speeds down the hill. This is where it dawns to
her that indeed her sister does not enjoy being on the wheelchair all day long, but only that
her condition could not allow and she could not change anything.
The book also reflects when the family goes on a party and Patty can ride the roller
coasters on her own, but she is unable to, because of the wheelchair. This explains the
disappointments that the disabled children go through, as they are unable to access some
facilities in their surrounding like any other average person and they remain isolated

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because of their conditions, which denies them a chance to enjoy with their peers. This
calls for acceptance, whereby the child should be encouraged to understand and accept the
situation, hence boosting their confidence and self-esteem.
The message on the book
The book can be used to create awareness on the children about children with
disabilities and their special needs. By reading the story to the children in the class, the
children can be able to have empathy on their peers with disabilities as they are aware of
their situations. This can be reflected in the story where patty experiences the situation in
which Penelope is always in throughout the day. This enables her to realize that indeed, it
is a robust experience.
The book brings about a scenario whereby patty spends all her money to will a staff
animal, but her effort bears no fruits. However, the princess wins a staffed yellow poodle
possessing a pink collar from the game facilitator. Through this, the children learn that
disability is not inability, and what belongs to someone cannot be taken away regardless of
whether they are enabled or not (Valle & Connor, 2019).
Patty and princess’ parents act as an excellent example in handling children with
disabilities. They do not discriminate either of their children, and they try as much as they
could to meet their children’s needs. They are both taken out for recreation functions and
involve them in family activities. Their relatives also follow in the same path as when they
meet in family gatherings; they all specially treat Penelope, calling her princess. This
frustrates patty, and she wishes to be at her sister’s position until she spins the wheels
herself and understands the struggle her sister goes through every day.

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Conclusion
The book can be used to teach children on disabilities by showing them the pictures
and allowing them to explain what they see on the picture (Mason, 2017). The children
may also describe any other forms of disabilities they may know about, and the teacher
finally clarifies the topic to them. This will enable them to have an open mind to learn
about disabilities (Gilmore & Howard, 2016).
The picture book, ’princess pooh’ is an enjoyable book and suitable for teaching
children on disabilities. It explains some of the perspectives that children may be having
about their family members that are disabled, as demonstrated by the character of patty
towards her sister Penelope.

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Reference
Argent, K. (2017). The key role of picture books and other resources. In Disability and
Inclusion in Early Years Education (pp. 101-120). Routledge.
Çer, E. (2016). Preparing Books for Children from Birth to Age Six: The Approach of
Appropriateness for the Child. Journal of Education and Practice, 7(6), 78-99.
Gilmore, L., & Howard, G. (2016). Children's books that promote understanding of
difference, diversity and disability. Journal of Psychologists and Counsellors in
Schools, 26(2), 218-251.
Montag, J. L., Jones, M. N., & Smith, L. B. (2015). The words children hear: Picture
books and the statistics for language learning. Psychological Science, 26(9), 1489-
1496.Saxton, M. (2017). Child language: Acquisition and development. Sage.
Mason, J. M. (2017). Reading stories to preliterate children: A proposed connection to
reading. In Reading acquisition (pp. 215-241). Routledge.
Murris, K. (2016). The posthuman child: Educational transformation through philosophy
with picturebooks. Routledge.
Saxton, M. (2017). Child language: Acquisition and development. Sage.
Thompson, R. D. (2015). Philosophy for children in a foundation phase literacy classroom
in South Africa: multimodal representations of knowledge (Doctoral dissertation).
Valle, J. W., & Connor, D. J. (2019). Rethinking disability: A disability studies approach
to inclusive practices. Routledge.

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