Little People: Learning to See the World Through My Daughter's Eyes

By Dan Kennedy; 288 pages. From the book jacket: "In 'Little People,' Dan Kennedy confronts the deepest of parental fears: What if my child is different? His search for an answer provides a penetrating look at how our culture of diversity clashes with the reality of disability and the belief that we have a right to the so-called perfect child."

For readers who like popular science and history books, Little People strikes a nice balance between a good nonfiction read and a book on special-needs parenting.

About the Guide Rating

I've speculated before that mothers and fathers write very different sorts of books about their children's special needs, with mom-oirs being more personal and emotional and the dads' version adding more historical background and investigative information into the mix. "Little People" fits squarely into that pattern. His daughter's diagnosis sends author Kennedy on a journey to learn what it means to be a dwarf, visiting a past when Little People were freaks or the subjects of experiments, a present where organizations like Little People of America bring them together, and a future in which science may eliminate them entirely.

It's also, in its examination of the ways in which it is now becoming possible to "cure" dwarfism with limb-lengthening procedures or eliminate it altogether through genetic testing, a book that will be of interest to parents of all children with special needs, not just dwarfism. As a journalist, Kennedy investigates these options and considers whether children should be spared the experience of being so very different and families should be spared all the concern and complications that can go with having a child with special needs. As a father, he can't help loving his daughter the way she is and feeling that those who would change her or prevent children like her are missing something important. It's a thoughtful discussion of a topic that will grow in significance as science rushes on.

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