Little Fingers, Big Stories

Seedlings has been part of our lives for about a year now, and it has been such an amazing resource as we slowly introduce Ellie to braille and accessible literacy.

Since Ellie is still little and just beginning to become familiar with braille, our biggest goal right now isn’t necessarily reading braille, it’s teaching her to explore books with her hands, become comfortable gliding her fingers across the braille, and most importantly, love books.

And I think we’ve officially discovered her favourite.

One of Ellie’s Seedlings books is Never Touch a Dragon, which has different rubbery textures throughout the book alongside the braille. To say she loves it would be an understatement. She now demands that we read it tens of times throughout the day and will sit feeling all of the different textures and running her little fingers across the pages and braille.

Seeing how much she connected with that book really showed us how important tactile books are for her.

That’s one of the things we love so much about Seedlings. Braille books don’t have to be just words and braille on a page. We’ve been able to explore books with rubbery textures, fuzzy touch-and-feel pieces, sounds, interactive elements and even puppets  all while exposing Ellie to braille at the same time.

Recently, we were lucky enough to receive another 10 free braille books through Seedlings’ Pics & Quotes Giveaway, and knowing what we know now, we absolutely grabbed three more books from the Never Touch series! We also chose a variety of other tactile and interactive books so Ellie can continue discovering different ways to explore stories with her hands.

At three years old, we aren’t worried about how quickly Ellie learns braille. Right now we’re building the foundation: books are fun, books are for her, and reading is something she can participate in too.

And if that means reading Never Touch a Dragon for the tenth time before lunch… well, apparently that’s our life now.

We are incredibly thankful for Seedlings and for the opportunity they’ve given Ellie to grow up surrounded by books that are accessible to her.

Looking for braille books and accessible literacy resources?

Visit Braille & Literacy Supports page to see more of the resources we’ve found along the way.