I Am Not a Label by Cerrie Burnell
Published by Quarto Publishing Group UK
Illustrator: Lauren Baldo
Age Group: Middle Grade
Format: Non-Fiction, Picture Book
Genres and Categories: Disabled and Neurodivergent Authors, OwnVoices Representation, Chronic Illness, Hearing impairment, Intellectual Disabilities, Learning Disabilities, Mental Health, Mobility Aids, Neurodivergent, Physical Disabilities, Vision impairment, Miscellaneous History, Disabled and Neurodivergent Information, Diversity
My Rating:
Published on: 2nd July 2020
Pages: 64
Buy this Book! Amazon UK / Amazon US / Barnes & Noble / Blackwells / Bookshop.org US / Bookshop.org UK / Waterstones
Add to Goodreads

In this stylishly illustrated biography anthology, meet 30 artists, thinkers, athletes, and activists with disabilities, from past and present. From Frida Kahlo to Stephen Hawking, find out how these iconic figures have overcome obstacles, owned their differences, and paved the way for others by making their bodies and minds work for them.

These short biographies tell the stories of people who have faced unique challenges that have not stopped them from becoming trailblazers, innovators, advocates, and makers. Each person is a leading figure in their field, be it sports, science, math, art, breakdancing, or the world of pop.

Challenge your preconceptions of disability and mental health with the eye-opening stories of these remarkable people.

Please note
As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programmes I earn a small commission from items purchased using links featured in this post at no extra cost to you. Click here to learn more. Every purchase you make through Just Geeking By helps keep this blog running.

I am Not a Label by Cerrie Burnell is a great book for children to learn about disabilities and how large the disabled community really is, which made it ideal for me to review for GeekDis to discuss disability representation in pop culture.

I am Not a Label is aimed at children aged 6 to 12 years; however, even as an adult, I learned a lot from it. For example, I had no idea there was a female footballer, Michelle Ackers, who has chronic fatigue syndrome and has been openly talking about her experiences with the condition for decades. Likewise, I also was unaware that the magician Dynamo has Crohn’s disease – and I’m a disability awareness blogger! This book may be aimed at children, but it will be just as educational for their parents.

I was impressed with the variety of people included in I am Not a Label. Normally, books like this, especially when aimed at children, stick to a very popular and very limited set of historical figures and celebrities. Cerrie Burnell included quite a few of them, Ludwig van Beethoven, Helen Keller, and Frida Kahlo, just to name a few historical figures that are often named when people compile a list of famous disabled people. However, they were out weighed by a larger amount of lesser, and I’d hazard even some unknown people too.

Even better, the individuals in I am Not a Label represent the truly diverse nature of the disabled community. There are people from all around the world, with so many different disabilities, and from other marginalised communities that intersect with the disabled community. There was even a section explaining what invisible/hidden disabilities were, which I thought was fantastic. While a child won’t necessarily recognise intersectionality, they will be able to recognise that the faces in the illustrations are all different, and that is important.

The illustrations, designed by Lauren Mark Baldo, are beautiful, and each one is delightful. I don’t know how to put into words how it felt to see all these disabled people illustrated with such care and attention to detail. Every single one was unique to the person, their background and their personality. In particular, I think for me as a disabled person, it just brought tears to my eyes (and it’s even doing it just now as I’m writing this) to see them portrayed as they were/are without anyone trying to hide their disability or draw attention away from it.

I felt this especially regarding the historical figures who would have never been portrayed in a portrait as disabled because anything “impure” would have been “corrected” or “hidden away”. It isn’t as if Baldo has purposely emphasised their disabilities, either; she has just let their identity naturally shine through in her artwork. That’s what makes them so beautiful.

While I did enjoy the book, I’ve given it 4 out of 5 stars because, at the end of the day, I’m not a 6 to 12-year-old or a parent, so I can only review this from the perspective of a disabled person.

From that perspective, and thinking back to myself as a voracious learner at that age, I think that I am Not a Label will make a fantastic addition to any young person’s library. They’re not just going to learn more about the disability community; they’re going to learn about people because, as the title of the book says, we’re not labels. This book is about saying that we’re more than just our disability, and for kids who are disabled, it’s the affirmation that they can do anything they want to.

One last thing: you might have noticed that I did not use the word inspiring once in this review. There’s a reason for that; disabled people are not here to be your inspirations.  This book is literally called “I am not a Label”, and by calling the people in this book “inspiring”, you are applying a label to them. When you’re thinking that the people in this book are inspiring, ask yourself, are they inspiring because of their achievements alone or because they are disabled and managed to achieve these things? If you can’t separate their achievements from their disabilities, then you are labelling them.

Thank you for reading my review for I am Not a Label by Cerrie Burnell!

Don’t forget to check out the rest of my reviews if you’re looking for some more book recommendations 🙂 You can also now sign up for my newsletter to get an email each month with a list of my new reviews!

Support Just Geeking By

I hope you enjoyed this post! If you did, please consider sharing it on social media using the nifty buttons at the end of this post <3

If you enjoyed this content, please consider supporting my blog. You can do this in multiple ways (click here to find out how!) or by donating via Ko-Fi to help me reach my current goal.