We Move Together

by Kelly Fritsch, Anne McGuire, Eduardo Trejos (Illustrator)

A bold and colorful exploration of all the ways that people navigate through the spaces around them and a celebration of the relationships we build along the way. We Move Together follows a mixed-ability group of kids as they creatively negotiate everyday barriers and find joy and connection in disability culture and community. A perfect tool for families, schools, and libraries to facilitate conversations about disability, accessibility, social justice and community building. Includes a kid-friendly glossary (for ages 6–9).

Genres: Picture Books, Disability, Childrens, Social Justice, Storytime, Nonfiction, Cultural

42 pages, Hardcover

Published April 6, 2021

About the author

Kelly Fritsch is a disabled writer, educator, and parent living in Ottawa, Ontario. She is an assistant professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Carleton University where she teaches critical disability studies and social theory. She is co-editor of Disability Injustice: Confronting Criminalization in Canada (2021, UBC Press) and Keywords for Radicals: The Contested Vocabulary of Late-Capitalist Struggle (2016, AK Press).

Reviews

[Danielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love everything about this book.

[Debbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book. It addresses important aspects of inclusion and equity, including the very important lesson that it’s not always simple or easy. Diversity of characters on every spread. Beautiful illustrations. Ends with further explanation of each of the main points, which I imagine would be very useful for discussion. I’ll be buying some copies for local schools.

[S · Rating 5 out of 5]

Inclusive children's books about working to make spaces more accessible for everyone. An excellently illustrated, own-voices book.

[Vernon Area Public Library KIDS · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book starts out with a group of mixed-ability friends living their best lives and experiencing a variety of emotions like patience, determination, and curiosity. The book continues to look at injustices against disabled people and how communities can work together to overcome. Shifting between the two goals of the book (joy of culture and the fight for disability justice) provides a delicate balance of celebration and the necessity for change.

While this book has excellent read-aloud potential at storytime and in the classroom, the illustrations provide a lot of intriguing and fun scenarios for one-on-one readers to absorb and investigate.

Reviewed by: Miss Kelsey, Youth and School Services, Vernon Area Public Library

[Elizabeth Majka · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great picture book that highlights the truth of our differences being our strengths. Especially enjoyable is the diversity within the book, and the illustrations showing children and adults working together to solve problems. Included is an appendix about inclusive terms that is understandable for the kids and adults reading the book. Love love love it!

[Maggie Mattmiller · Rating 5 out of 5]

ALL THE STARS!

This book! The representation of identities- across all ways folks can identify! The nuances of the world and it not being black and white (there's a page where people are making protest signs- and some want no straws because of saving the planet, while others advocate for straws as access!)

Seriously. Fantastic book. If I were still in a classroom, I'd be having us spend whole lessons on individual pages!

HIGHLY recommend for teachers and home libraries!

[Zuri · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book made me think, and it made me smile - two essential ingredients for a worthwhile picture book. It should be noted though, that I removed one star as I feel that the visibility of individuals with amputations is lacking. There is one visible amputee in the entire book, and because of the way they are illustrated, they are easily missed.

[Charmian Cooper · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book to my four year old and I don't think we have ever read a book that brought up so many conversations. Between the story and the pictures there are endless topics that you can talk to your child about. We even had a full conversation about how blind people navigate the world simply because there is the image of a blind person walking across the street. I foresee that a new topic or question could come up every time you pick up this book.

[Danielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5/5 - Beautiful artwork. I especially loved the vastness of the intersectionality of diversity depicted. My only drawback was that I thought that a couple of the spreads didn’t strike the right balance between art and text. I felt like there was too much going on. Overall though, I would highly, highly recommend.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely!

[Megan Sanks · Rating 5 out of 5]

A super wonderful book addressing disability justice that's also perfect for storytime!

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

My first children’s book from AK and it’s both a beautiful message and beautifully illustrated. Marvelous job, my daughter loved it too.

[Carisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is fantastic and deserves a home in every personal, school, and community library. The writing is wonderful, the messages meaningful, and the illustrations are phenomenal. There is so much to see and think about for readers as they see and celebrate the disability community. The Ideas and Illustrations portion of the book provides additional context.

[SamSamSam · Rating 4 out of 5]

This would be a great one-on-one read- there's so much to discuss on every page!

[christina ♥ · Rating 2 out of 5]

this was a on a university reading list. i was curious, then bored.

[jo price · Rating 5 out of 5]

this is the perfect example of talking about a complicated, intricate thing (dj) really simply and beautifully. the perfect edition to any home regardless of age or ability. i want all my friends with labels stuck living in group homes to have access to this.

[Patrinia Sandles · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the book “We Move Together” by Kelly Fritsch. What is most striking about this book is that the text itself is very simple, the story is very simple — the pictures tell all of the story. The text is very general: “we move slow, we move fast, we move together” but when you pause to study the pictures, they are almost like animations. You see what’s being said between the lines. My kids loved this book because there was time to pause and study the pictures without having to think so much about the words. The author’s general message is about making the world a better place for everybody. What is also nice about this book is it really doesn’t just focus on disability as a point of equality and accessibility. When you look at the pictures there are a lot of diverse family types featured - same sex families, multi cultural and multi ethnic familes, and diversely abled families. The entire book is full of public scenes of diversity in everyday places - markets, parks, libraries, workshops, etc and it is as if the author illustrated her prayers on the pages. Scenes of young children from diverse experiences curious about each others ways of experiencing the world. At the back of the book are child friendly definitions of Abel -ism, descriptions of accessible ways of communicating like sign language, gestures, pictures, music, and tablets, a child friendly definition of the disability community and disability arts & culture and the names of the key players in each of those topics are boldly printed in each section. Truly a lovely book - very fantastic book. It will be given a spot in our children’s library. .

[Rainbow Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m a little late to the game, but that won’t stop me from sharing We Move Together by Kelly Fritsch and Anne McGuire with you all today. Released last month, this beautifully inclusive picture book focusing on disability justice is a perfect example of what Mutually Inclusive is all about.

We all move through the world in different ways, and it’s so important to provide young readers with visible examples of the many assistive devices people with disabilities use on a daily basis. Normalizing characters with disabilities in children’s literature is such a great way to accomplish this goal, and We Move Together does it flawlessly.

In We Move Together, we follow a diverse group of mixed-ability children and their families as they overcome everyday barriers and come together to connect with the disabled community. Whether it’s solving accessibility issues or preparing for a protest, We Move Together provides young readers with a wonderful example of a community working together to ensure everyone’s needs are met.

We Move Together offers more disabled representation than I’ve found in any other book. Children who use crutches, canes, walkers, wheelchairs, scooters, ventilators, sign languages, and more will see themselves represented on every spread. The bold, colorful illustrations by Eduardo Trejos are fantastic! The careful attention to detail and accuracy in depicting all the assistive devices on each page is a wonderful example of the respect and care We Move Together shows the disabled community.

We Move Together is also an amazing resource for classrooms and school libraries. The back matter contains lots of additional information about accessibility, ableism, and the disability community.

Dr. Kelly Fritsch is a disabled writer, educator, parent, and feminist disability studies scholar based in Ottawa, Canada. Please visit her website at kellyfritsch.ca to learn more about her and her work.

Anne McGuire is a disability studies scholar and Associate Professor at the University of Toronto. To learn more about her and her work, please visit her Twitter.

Eduardo Trejos is a Costa Rican graphic designer, visual artist, and illustrator based in Toronto, Canada. Please visit his website at edtrejos.com to learn more about him and his work.

I also want to thank AK Press for publishing such a wonderfully inclusive book, and sending a copy my way.

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[Kelsey Bielec]

Very good illustrations that I could look at for hours. The pictures are a story in itself that showcase disabilities and disability struggle. It is a good first step for students in learning about disabilities and a good tool that you can examine the book for equality ideas in the classroom with your students.

[Caity Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

We Move Together is a wonderful read-aloud book to spread positivity about the disability community. The book explores how many people move differently and acknowledges how we all work together which can educate children on the importance of how everybody moves around differently and creating an active lesson. This book also offers large words and pictures which relate to the text.

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

After discovering this in a roundabout, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day quest, I am just so impressed by this book. I keep opening it up again to look at it.

The cover is warm and fiery and welcoming, with firm emphasis on feet and methods of movement (besides feet, there's a motorized wheelchair, a cane, and a service dog). But despite the clear underlying focus on disability justice, the entire book is a general call to community action. By moving together we make change, but there's no glossing over of difficulty here. Sometimes the change is fast, sometimes slow, sometimes we have to wait, but in the end we all wait together and work together. Disagreements and problems arise, but we deal with them. Sometimes we can't fight for justice today and we take a break, but there's always someone to continue.

Full of hope tempered with reality, this book leaves sunshine and rainbows behind in favor of honest, hard work. But work that happens together and that leaves room for moments of pause and appreciation and joy.

There's a glorious scene in a library that does a pretty keen job of depicting a library today. And a nice two-page afterward with additional information on disability culture and rights.

[Aolund · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thoughtfully-written and -illustrated picture book about different ways of moving through and engaging with the world. With illustrations showing many different kinds of disabled and normatively-abled people as they hang out together, move through the city, and perform direct action and other forms of activism, this book has simple but expansive text that acts less as a story and more as a discussion prompt. I appreciated that the text wasn't *so* simple as to come off as platitudes—there were bolded "central" phrases on each page that were then elaborated to add dimension and complexity. A great text for returning to over and over again with kids of different ages and dis/abilities to thoughtfully read and discuss together.

Themes: Community, Dis/ability, Friends, Access, Justice, Bodies
Age range: Preschool-Elementary

[Billie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book would have been better written in a series about the various topics. It touched on too many subjects for a short children's book. This is not a book that I would purchase for ages six to nine. The pages of illustrations were jam packed with characters of every ability. I did like the accessibility pages and the small section on plastic pollution. I received an advance reading copy of this book from Goodreads Giveaways in exchange for a review. All opinions expressed are my own.

[Natasha]

Includes Deaf/deaf/HOH with cochlear implants, hearing aids, sign language, ASL; blind representation with service dog, white cane; various types of wheelchairs, scooters, crutches, canes, and walkers; feeding/trachea tube; limb differences/amputations

[Steph · Rating 5 out of 5]

The illustrations are absolutely amazing! Can lead to many possible class discussions.

[Josie Stewart · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would love to share this book with a class. Taking the time to thoughtfully go through the pages. This book could really inspire action!

[Picture Books To Grow - Shoshana Magnet · Rating 5 out of 5]

We are born dependent, we die dependent, it is a profoundly neoliberal fantasy to think we are anything less than dependent on one another during our lifetimes on this pale blue dot. Beginning by defining disability justice, including the important tenet that “all bodies have strengths and needs that must be met” and reminding us that we need to “move together, with no body left behind” this book does the smart smart work of reminding us that disability justice is so many things. It is refusing to differentiate between types of wheels: some kids use bikes, some use chairs, fighting for accessibility, and also understanding that we may not always agree as to what disability justice means. Reading this book fills my heart with happiness. The illustrations are joyful, and each page reminds me somehow that part of the amazing thing about being alive are those moments when “we move together” – and when our shared movements produce change. As this book reminds us, sometimes we have to wait. Whether it is waiting for an accessible bus, or for the world to change to integrate disability justice into its core philosophies (I’m looking at you Doug Ford and your horrible refusal to implement more than 3 paid sick days for the most vulnerable members of our communities), this book reminds us, “waiting can feel boring, frustrating, hard. Waiting can also feeling exciting…” Reviewing a number of scenarios, including an ice cream shop rendered inaccessible by the inclusion of a single stair, the next scene is of a group of folks making stair risers to distribute in the community, so that all the businesses can be accessible for folks who roll. Look for the helpers, Mister Rogers encouraged us. And well, here they are, making the world more accessible and better for all of us, one stair riser at a time. What I find so wondrous about this book is it teaches critical thinking in social justice movements in a single 2-page spread. In one scene, the importance of straws for some people with disabilities is shown, as one woman holds out a cup with a straw so her lover can drink. And the next page features the war on straws for environmental reasons, reminds us that “these things that connect us are often what challenge us” and that “sometimes we disagree about how to be together.” And yet, We Move Together reminds us that disagreement, discomfort and conflict are not the end of the world. In fact, they are part of the struggle, and all the more reason to patiently keep at it, even though we sometimes may need to take a break. “Even when we’re by ourselves, we never move alone. Like feeling so close with someone who’s far. Like learning from other who have come before.” In this time of COVID-inspired loneliness and existential alone-ness, I appreciate this book so much. You can find it here: wemovetogether.ca

[Storytime With Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

We all move in different ways but one thing is certain, we all move together. In their new picture book We Move Together, Kelly Frisch, Anne McGuire and Eduardo Trejos illuminate the different ways people move around in a city and how we can work together to ensure that everyone has equal access. We Move Together encourages readers to recognize things that are inaccessible and work to make them accessible, to be patient with the way we need to move.

Gorgeously illustrated and simply put this is a book that should be shared even with all readers. This book can be shared with all readers from newborn all the way up to adults. The lovely simple story embedded with information about working together. There are wonderful moments like how the authors point out that there are times when we have to wait and waiting can be pretty boring. They turn that boring feeling around and share how waiting can be exciting too. The authors share with readers how in a community we all work together to solve problems and help each other out. We can learn from each other too.

Another thing we love about this book is the wealth of information included at the back of the book for the older readers. The authors get into the definition of ableism and talk about disability justice activists. They include information about accessibility and community access projects, artists with disabilities and history within the disability community.

The illustrations by Eduardo Trejos are detailed, thoughtful and inclusive. They represent a community working together. Just like many communities in the real world, the illustrations are full of diverse people and if you look closely at the illustrations you will notice people with different disabilities. There are people communicating through sign language, people communicating with their bodies, people moving in different ways, etc. Full of colour and joy, there is so much beauty on the pages, readers will return to this book often just to seek out something new.

There is a very significant gap in the Canadian children’s publishing industry as it relates to the availability of books by and about persons with disabilities. We Move Together is an important addition to the Canadian children’s literature landscape and hopefully many more books and stories to come. As we begin to move out of the pandemic we need to have more books like We Move Together to ensure the lessons in accessibility we learned while mandated to be at home continue to be learned as we emerge. For more information go to www.wemovetogether.ca

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

This picture book is a 3.5 for me, and I'm pleased to see another children's book focusing on activism and disability rights. As the sign on the back cover indicates, "ACCESS IS LOVE," something many of us take for granted. The book itself follows a cast of diverse youngsters, 8 of them, who are headed across town to join some adults in preparing signs and building ramps so that certain buildings or curbs can be accessible to those who cannot enter or cross them otherwise. The young activists move quickly and slowly, and sometimes they even have to slow down and wait for transportation to arrive. Each of the brightly-colored pages depicts individuals who are differently-abled but deeply committed to changing the world. Back matter includes notes on all the illustrations as well as explanations for how individuals move, a definition of ableism, ways of communication, building community, and disability arts and culture. Clearly, there's a whole world and an entire culture out there that young readers need to know about and appreciate, and this book provides a solid introduction to some of the joys and challenges of a so-called "disability." One of the best parts of the book is how the individuals featured on its pages are solving their own problems and advocating for themselves. The cover and title might lead some potential readers to surmise that the book will focus on exercise, but that isn't the case. It's all about building a small coalition or movement for social (and legal, perhaps) change.

[Debra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! This eye opening book is amazing! The idea of disability justice is one I only heard about in college, but this picture book allows the discussions to start much younger. I love the illustrations by Eduardo Trejos as there is so much in each of them to consider. I noted while reading it that one person is making an Earth Day poster about not using straws, but another is saying that straws are access and in the illustrations there are many different people who have limited arm movement that need straws to drink, but also to move their wheelchairs. The text of the book is simple and allows us to see clearly how access is hard to make equal as we all have different needs based on how are bodies move. I see this book as a first purchase. I will likely pair it with All the Way to the Top by Pimental and I Talk Like a River by Scott when I share this book with my staff groups in my two elementary schools.

The back matter takes a closer look at some of the illustrations and explains the devices that may be limited by our communities and questioning access. Concepts of Ableism, Accessibility, Arts and Culture as applied to how we move or create art, and Communication are detailed.