Meg Raby

Piper Crow narrates this story about her little brother Otto, who has autism. Otto loves yellow, whether it be his yellow clothing (that he wears every day), or yellow food. He likes to twirl and twirl, and to swing as high as he can go at the playground. Although he sometimes does things that may be interpreted as rude or unkind, such as plugging his ears at story-time, or not giving the other children a chance at the swings, Piper emphasizes that her brother would never be mean on purpose. Despite his differences, he is in many ways like all the other little crows: someone who "likes to play, learn, have friends, and be loved..."

Author Meg Raby, who makes her children's book debut with My Brother Otto, works with children on the autism spectrum, and clearly intends this tale to be used in explaining some of the behaviors exhibited by said children, that might be potentially puzzling or off-putting to other youngsters. Although I wouldn't describe the narrative here as being particularly strong, in the story department - it's too much like a list of activities, with no central incident or plot development - it is still engaging, offering a lighthearted and non-sentimental picture-book introduction to the subject of autism. The artwork from Mexican illustrator Elisa Pallmer is colorful and cute, although not really to my taste. This will be a useful book, I suspect, and is one I'd recommend to those looking for children's stories that explore autism and autistic behavior.… (meer)