A Day with No Words

Gr 1-2–Autistic activist and author Hammond’s 2023 bestselling mother-and-son story gets a lyrical aural adaptation a year later, its quotidian rhythms ideally captured by Santana’s softly affecting performance. The autistic boy doesn’t speak, but the use of a tablet ensures he’s heard. At the park, an ignorant mother notices the child and “sneers, ‘That boy is handicapped.’” Mama demands the adults (and their kids) listen: “My son does not speak, but his ears work just fine./ The words that you say go straight to his mind.” On their walk home with smiles restored, the pair stop to enjoy toothsome snacks. Hammond writes in her author’s note how sharing a day with the boy as experienced from his first-person POV “gives us a better understanding of his challenges as a nonspeaking individual in a world that prioritizes speech.”