Breakthrough Parenting for Children with Special Needs: Raising the Bar of Expectations. Judy Winter, $17.99

Breakthrough Parenting for Children with Special Needs challenges families and professionals to help children with special needs to reach their full potential by using a proven motivational, how-to approach. This groundbreaking and inspiring book provides detailed information on how to let go of the “perfect-baby” dream, face and resolve grief, avoid the no-false-hope syndrome, access early intervention services, and avoid the use of limiting and outdated labels. Also included are specific guidelines for working with professionals, understanding the law and inclusion and planning for the future.

Finnie’s Handling the Young Child with Cerebral Palsy at Home, 4th Edition. Edited by Eva Bower, $64.95

The 4th edition of Finnie s Handling the Young Child with Cerebral Palsy at Home aims to help parents assist their child with cerebral palsy (CP) towards achieving the most comfortable independence in all activities. The book is also intended to help professionals and other carers new to this field understand, support and encourage young children with CP and their families.

The emphasis of this new edition remains a holistic approach to the child's needs - seeing the difficulties in relation to the overall development of the child as a unique person from childhood to adulthood.

Lucky Lou Gets Game. Sarah Yates, $25.00 (novel, 12 & up)

Lou is funny and she has attitude. Lou is a teenager with cerebral palsy. Her cousin Sam has never understood why she can’t play baseball, as he does. He doesn’t take her disability as an excuse. When Sam and his friends coach Lou and her motley crew, the baseball game has unexpected results. Lou gets the boy who was never in her dreams and learns to speak up for herself.

Out of My Mind. Sharon Draper, $21.99

Eleven-year-old Melody has a photographic memory. Her head is like a video camera that is always recording. Always. And there's no delete button. She's the smartest kid in her whole school—but no one knows it. Most people—her teachers and doctors included—don't think she's capable of learning, and up until recently her school days consisted of listening to the same preschool-level alphabet lessons again and again and again. If only she could speak up, if only she could tell people what she thinks and knows...but she can't, because Melody can't talk. She can't walk. She can't write.

Being stuck inside her head is making Melody go out of her mind—that is, until she discovers something that will allow her to speak for the first time ever. At last Melody has a voice...but not everyone around her is ready to hear it.

Taking Cerebral Palsy To School. Mary Elizabeth Anderson, $14.50

School friends learn about cerebral palsy. Ages 5-9.

Written by an experienced physical therapist who is also the mother of a child with cerebral palsy, this comprehensive guide examines the physical characteristics of cerebral palsy and similar conditions - muscle tightness and weakness, increased or decreased flexibility, abnormal reflexes, impaired sensory perception - that affect a child's ability to sit, crawl, stand, and walk. Teaching Motor Skills offers dozen of easy-to-follow exercises with accompanying photos that parents may incorporate into many daily routines at home with the guidance and support of their child's physical therapist. This user-friendly guide helps parents and professionals coordinate their efforts to achieve the best possible outcome for the child.

Yago’s Heartbeat. Conchita Miranda, illustrated by Monica Carretero, $17.95

Can you dance in a wheelchair? Can you sing without being able to speak? Can you tell stories just with your eyes?

Yago’s Heartbeat is a story for everyone about differences, communication without words and unconditional love.

Yoga Therapy for Every Special Child: Meeting Needs in a Natural Setting. Nancy Williams, Illustrated by Leslie White, $22.95

Yoga therapy is gaining rapid recognition as a form of treatment that can improve the physical and mental wellbeing of children with a variety of complex needs. This book contains a specially-designed yoga program for use with children of all abilities, and provides both parents and professionals with the knowledge they need to carry out the therapy themselves.

The program consists of a series of postures, each of which is explained and accompanied by an illustration. The postures are designed to help children understand and use their bodies, and work towards positive changes such as realigning the spine, encouraging eye-contact, and promoting calm and steady breathing. Consideration is given to creating the right setting for carrying out the therapy, assessing an individual child's particular needs, and making the sessions fun using games and props. Sections on yoga therapy for specific conditions such as autistic spectrum disorder, Down syndrome, and cerebral palsy are included, and the book concludes with child and parent reports on how the program has worked for them, and a list of useful contacts and resources.

This practical book is a must for parents, teachers, therapists and other professionals, and anybody else who wants to help a child to develop through enjoyable and therapeutic yoga sessions.