Children’s Book Authors with Dyslexia

Sally Gardner

Author of Maggot Moon

This award-winning author of more than a dozen children’s books wasn’t always called Sally. She changed her name to Sally because her dyslexia made it hard for her to spell her name. Born Sarah, Gardner struggled with the “h” in her name. “My mother had a friend who was an actress called Sally who said, ‘Look, darling, the best thing to do is Sally because the s is like a snake, you have a little a and two long lines and a y to catch it all.’ And I thought, I can do that.”

Tom McLaughlin

Author of The Accidental Secret Agent

Tom McLaughlin recalls reading and writing being terribly difficult for him as a young student. “I was told I was lazy. I was tested for dyslexia, so the school knew about it, but didn’t do anything,” he says. “I think things are better nowadays.” Now the author of nine children’s books and counting, he encourages students to share their struggles with each other. “You should never be afraid to talk about being dyslexic,” McLaughlin says. “In fact, the more I talk about it, the more it feels like I’m getting to know myself a little bit more.”

Patricia Polacco

Author of  Junkyard Wonders

Patricia Polacco is perhaps best known for her best-selling autobiographical children’s book, Thank You, Mr. Falker. It tells the story of a student with dyslexia who’s touched by the kindness of a special teacher….Polacco encourages kids with dyslexia to have faith in themselves. “What I’m advising children to do is to realize that they are gifted, that every single kid is, but the human dilemma is we don’t open our gifts at the same time,” she says. “Some of us take much longer to open the gifts, but they’re there—and I promise them the gifts are there.”

Have you read any of these authors’ books (or others from the full list)? How do your students respond when they read books written by authors with dyslexia? Let us know in the comments!

• Elizabeth Ross, M.A., SMARTS Media Manager