I Hear a Red Crayon is a true story about a young child growing up as the only sibling of an older brother with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Separately and together brother and sister navigate their relationship. Her place in the family as the baby is short lived, as she naturally evolves into her brother’s guide, protector, and teacher. Witnessing of interactions between her friends and their siblings shines a glaring light on what she is missing in her family life. Feeling lonely at home, she thinks to herself, “I can see my brother…but I can’t find him.”

Through time brother and sister slowly find their way toward one another. Time spent together brings her the gifts of discovery and understanding, and to her brother it provides the comfort of wide open trust in a peer.

With a child’s creativity, the narrator describes the way she imagines the autism spectrum, comparing it to the only other spectrum she knows – a rainbow. The book’s illustrations – drawn by a 12-year-old – show this black-and-white interpretation with her brother in silhouette on the spectrum, and her in silhouette off of it.

Highlighting the challenges and triumphs that come with the building of such a relationship, I Hear a Red Crayon is a story that appeals to anyone who knows a child with ASD – from educators, therapists, and social workers, special education staff and most important, to family members on that same special journey.

This is an advanced reader’s copy available to authorized readers of NetGalley. Please direct all questions to pjmalia@ connecticutpress.com. Tel.: 203-268-6784.