- Title: The Prince Who Was Just Himself
- Author(s): Silke Schnee
- Illustrator/Photographer: Heike Sistig
- Publisher and Year: Plough Publishing House, 2015
- Number of pages: 25
- Tags: Diversity, Family, K-2, Picture Book, Morgan Houk
- Genre: Fiction
- Analysis:
This story is about a Prince with Down syndrome that is born into the Royal Family. When he is first born, the family is confused because he looks different than they do but they love him just the same. The book talks about different things that the Prince cannot do in comparison to his brothers but it also talks about all of the things he can do that really make him unique. The village is skeptical of him because he is different b
ut he ends up saving the day when he shows love and compassion towards the Evil Knight turning him kind and warm-hearted.
This book can act as a window for children who may not have much experience being
around someone with Down syndrome. It can show them that even though they may look different and be able to do different things, they are still thoughtful and in depth people. This book can also act as a mirror for someone who is disabled or is related to someone who is disabled. I also think that this book can act as a door because it shows how negatively people were treating the Prince for being different and now, having this understanding of Down syndrome, they can be kind and stick up for the people around them.
The illustrations look as though they were painted with some water color and possibly colored pencils as well. The Prince is always drawn as the focal point on each page signifying his importance in the story. At the beginning of the story, he was drawn much smaller than the other people on the page but after he saved his village his drawn closer up in the frame and appeared bigger than the people around him. The illustrations were also created with very bright colors, the only dark colors being used on the page with the Evil Knight.
The ideological framework in the story suggests that, though the Prince is royalty and royalty means power, he is somewhat powerless because he is disabled. His townspeople laughed at him making it feel as though they had more power over him.
A great feature of this book is author’s note and the last page of the book. The author’s note reveals that this story is really a mirror of the author’s family given that she is married with three boys, the youngest having Down syndrome. She talks about the joy and love that her son brings to her family and how her family would not be the same without him exactly as he is. She writes, “children are a wonder, and we must see them with the eyes of our heart – each child just the way he or she is.” This was a really great way to learn more about the author and her intentions with this book. The last page of the story also has a whole page of statistics and other information about Down syndrome as well as a list of websites to learn more. This page definitely ties the story together because the author never once says that the Prince has Down syndrome so it would be important to discuss what exactly Down syndrome is as well as other background information for a better understanding.