ONE INCH AT A TIME

Every child develops at their own pace, this book notes: Some acquire skills and abilities rapidly, but others need more time to reach the same targets. This book measures this progress in “inchstones” rather than milestones and reminds readers that, for some kids, “every inch they grow is real. And every inch is a big deal.” The style of Kennouche’s soft illustrations is somewhat unremarkable, but the comprehensive diversity of the children and adults they portray makes them extraordinary. One two-page spread shows a youngster with a prosthetic leg running on a track. On the opposite page, vignettes show a baby using a feeding tube, a tween with a microphone in a wheelchair, and an older child with orthodontic headgear reading to a baby wearing a harness on their torso and legs. In a classroom, a youth uses a communication pad alongside another child wearing headphones. The various characters are depicted with a wide range of skin tones; one child appears to have vitiligo. The accompanying rhyming text is not only simple and easy to read, but also uplifting and deeply heartfelt: “Tiny steps will make the climb. We’re all getting there, one inch at a time.”