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Children's Braille Books
Encouraging children to read for pleasure, and thereby improving their skills is a challenge for parents and teachers whether the medium is print or Braille. Of course, providing reading material that is interesting to the child is an excellent incentive.
Here is a list of sources for borrowing or purchasing Braille and print/Braille children’s books and magazines in the United States. Please contact individual organizations for detailed information on products and/or prices.
The National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, (800) 424-8567, offers a wide variety of Braille books on loan. Call your Arizona library at 1-800-255-5578 or call NLS at 1-800-424-8567 for more information and an application. NLS has also compiled a directory, available free of charge in large print and Braille formats, which gives the names of volunteer groups and individuals who transcribe and record books and other reading materials for blind readers. The listing is alphabetical by state.
Kenneth Jernigan Library for Blind Children, (818) 343-2022 , maintains a lending library of print/Braille books as well as Braille books for K–1 up to 12th grade reading and interest level. Books are mailed to the child’s home and also to schools. Contact the American Action Fund for Blind Children and Adults in writing for an application. Offer of a free Braille calendar as well as a weekly newspaper for deaf blind individuals. All services are free.
American Printing House for the Blind, (800) 223-1839, sells the "On the Way to Literacy" books, with print and Braille and tactile illustrations. Also source for many other Braille children’s books and early learning materials.
The National Braille Press, (617) 266-6160 or (800) 548-7323, offers a "Children’s Braille Book Club" aimed especially for preschool and primary grade children. These are popular picture books with the insertion of clear plastic sheets that contain the Braille translation. There is no fee to join the club, and you can buy as few or as many books as you wish.
Seedlings Braille Books for Children, (734) 427-8552 or (800) 777-8552, has more than 650 titles available at reasonable prices for Braille readers ages 0-14. Choose from print and Braille pre-school picture board books, beginning reader print and Braille books, and Braille-only chapter books through middle school reading level on many different topics including a variety of books in uncontracted Braille. Seedlings also offers "The Rose Project," providing free World Book Encyclopedia articles in Braille.
The Braille Institute of America, Inc., (323) 663-1111 or (800) 272-4553, publishes Expectations, a free Braille volume containing stories for elementary school age children, plus some scratch-and-sniff pages. The book is sent out once a year around Christmastime. A summertime volume, Brailleways, is also available. Write to the Braille Institute of America to get on the mailing list. Other print-Braille and Braille children’s books are available.
Braille International, Inc, (561) 286-8366 or (800) 336-3142, offers the William T. Thomas bookstore with books for children (and adults). They include the children’s reference "State Books Series" with information about geography, history, economy, culture, etc. of each state (and Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico), and the "One to Grow On!" series of children’s print/Braille books with a read-along cassette. Other popular books and series, such as the Baby Sitters Club books, are available.
The Louis Braille Center, (425) 776-4042, produces books by A. A. Milne, Robert Louis Stevenson and other popular children's authors. To obtain a free catalog in print or Braille, write to The Louis Braille Center.
Volunteer Braillists and Tapists, Inc., (608) 233-0222 , has Braille books and print-Braille books available for loan or purchase. All American Girl books available at less than print price.