Can I play too? by Samantha Cotterill

I am thrilled to see a third book in Samantha Cotterill's Little Senses series. These are excellent storytime reads on their own, with charming illustrations and simple plots, but they also portray children on the spectrum in ways that validate their experiences and help friends who are not on the spectrum to understand and interact with them.

This title deals with social skills and playing together, something many, if not all, children struggle with as they grow up, whether they are on the spectrum or not.

The endpages begin with a black child playing with a train, next to a box of train tracks. A tousle-headed white child joins them, caregiver behind the two, and asks "Can I play too?" The black child welcomes them and they begin interacting. The white child wants to build a track and the black child agrees. But the white child has a very specific idea in mind and gradually, and increasingly aggressively, takes over the play. Eventually it ends in a tugging fight and yelling and the white child hides under the table, upset by the seemingly inexplicable argument.

The caregiver (a white, brown-haired woman) shows the white child on the spectrum a story about trains and traffic lights and how they keep things moving smoothly. With smiling traffic lights as signals for recognizing a friends' feelings. She explains what happens - that the friend wanted a turn and didn't feel like they were listening. Cards in hand, the white child returns and they try playing again. This time, they use the cards to watch for the signals on their friend's face and together they build a great train track!

The publisher's description says both children are boys, but there's not really any indication of this in the text. Cotterill's cheerful illustrations are spotted against a plain white background. The children's dialogue is different in color and font, making it clear who is saying what.

Verdict: This is a book that preschool and early elementary kids can empathize with and all children, whether or not they are on the spectrum or have sensory issues, can benefit from the traffic light signals that teach them to watch for their friends' emotions. This also make a fun storytime read-aloud, with silly sounds and a gentle, relatable storyline. Highly recommended.

ISBN: 9780525553465; Published March 2020 by Dial; Review copy provided by publisher; Donated to the library