Inclusive Education in Early Childhood

Running head: EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION
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Inclusive education in early childhood
[Institution]
[Name]

EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION 2
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.

EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION 3
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