Accessibility Book Review: Indescribable. 100 devotions about God and science.
By Louie Giglio.
This is part of a group of books along the same theme; Creation, God and Science. But this one is a devotional book.
Contents:
It is full of awe and wonder, many interesting and amazing facts that hold interest - all of which point back to God the Creator and the bible verse for the day. The author is masterful in teaching things that are both helpful and inspiring.
It's not 'Preachy' in style, but it teaches well. It's also obvious the writer has a good understanding of children in general.
Understandability:
The flow of language is easy to follow.
The sentences are mainly short, but the few that are longer have good punctuation that aids understanding.
There are some words that may require explanation - which you would expect in any children's book, but there are also some concepts, analogies and phrases that are not easy to understand for 'concrete thinkers' and those who need things in plain English. They are in the most part explained again in a different way, which helps make it clearer to those who prefer plain language. But for a child who struggles with analogies and concepts, some discussion may be required occasionally.
Visual accessibility:
The text is bigger than some books, but not huge.
It's a sans serif font! - which is very helpful and yet so rare in books.
If your child needs a bigger font, this book is available in Kindle format too with the ability to change and enlarge fonts.
The picture shows the book with a 15cm ruler for size context. It also shows the wonderful pictures.
The titles are all in capitals and occasionally with a highly contrasting outline (Which are not considered very accessible for many)
The prayers are in italics, which I know some may struggle with.
The colours used are better than many books for children; occasionally the verse or the prayer (and some other text) is in an orangey red that I know many dyslexic or neurodivergent children struggle with due to the contrast being so high.
Colour combinations are generally good with just a few exceptions (I've already noted the titles).
The paragraphs are justified, which is usually a no, no, but it's done so well, it's hardly noticeable. The only centre aligning is the bible verse
If you have a child who struggles with books and reading but wants to access them independently, there is an Audible version! But you do miss out on the wonderful pictures if you only have the audio book.
New paragraph
I know that for many price is an issue with Audible, so getting that to allow independence is difficult.... I really wish it could be available elsewhere (away from audible) for a lesser price, so you can use it alongside the book.New paragraph
Having said that, and if you can, you can buy the Kindle book and then get the Audible version cheaper. It will work at the same time as reading it from the kindle to help with comprehension and allow your child to see the pictures too.
Helpful ways to use it:
If your child's main focus is ether science, animals or plants, this book would be a good choice.
If your child's reading skills and comprehension are average or above for their age, then it would work for independent devotions.
But if they struggle with concepts and analogies, then emphasise that the book may have some concepts they want to talk through (but not too many to make it hard) and that they can talk to you about them anytime.
It would also be great for a bedtime story routine - so you can both look at the book at the same time.
I think it's best use is as a family devotional. The opportunity for discussion, to extend the prayers and to create a prayerful and playful curiosity about God's world is huge - but I say this knowing that some children are more comfortable doing devotions on their own....You know your family and how they connect with God best - whatever that may look like!
For children family workers and volunteers, this would make a great basis for a curriculum that is more accessible, just tweak it a little and add some multisensory activities alongside and it will work for children with or without additional needs!
Summary:
Compared to many children's books, the basic accessibility isn't too bad.
The pages are not cluttered and 'in your face' and the text is fairly easy to track.
Children with moderate to severe learning disabilities may well struggle with it, but there are themes their grown ups can easily pull out and adapt if they have time for a little preparation - the book gives a good starting point for this.
The biblical content is fabulous, engaging and a joy to see. It doesn't shy away from some difficult themes and has plenty in it to make you smile too.
I LOVE this book! I bought it from 10 Of Those
NOTE: I am visually impaired, so have a lived experience of struggling to access books from that point of view. I'm also dyslexic!
