Blog Tour: Love Me, Love My ADHD by Chrissie Davies, illustrated by Trish Burton

Title: Love Me, Love My ADHD

Author: Chrissie Davies, illustrated by Trish Burton

Genre: Fiction

Publisher: Chaos to Calm

Published: 1^st June 2023

Format: Paperback

Pages: 32

Price: $27.00

Synopsis: “What do you see when you look at me?
A boy with a pet lizard at the top of the tallest tree.
Or a girl singing, dancing, and cartwheeling with a sticky band-aid on her knee.
Come along and spend the day with our family.
You will learn SO much about living with ADHD.
And we bet it’s not what you expect it to be.”

Welcome to the world of Clancy and Tully – they see the world a little differently and in the most amazing ways!

Love Me, Love My ADHD is a heart-warming book that shines a light on the world of children (and families) living with ADHD.

Focusing on the strengths and challenges that come with being an ADHDer, this book emphasizes that ADHD is not a one-size-fits-all experience and that no two ADHDers are the same.

Even on their hardest days, our ADHDers have something valuable to offer, and we should always celebrate our differences. Now you can spend a day in the life of these kids and see how their family, friends, and peer support them to achieve their best.

Written by child behavior expert Chrissie Davies and illustrated by Trish Burton, Love ME, Love my ADHD encourages families, educators, and, most importantly, children to understand this complex neurotype and how it presents itself in the human brain.

The book is about a family that loves and accepts their kiddos just the way they are rather than who others want them to be. The book shows just how differently this complex neurotype can present for individuals. Even on their hardest days, our ADHDers have something valuable to offer, and we should always celebrate our differences.

Through this story, young readers will learn that no matter where they go, there will always be people who love and appreciate their unique energy, vibe, and amazing mind.

So, let’s all come together and celebrate our differences because, with love, support, and patience, our amazing ADHD kids can do anything they set their brilliant minds to!

“Because loving me, means loving my ADHD!”

~*~

ADHD is a neurodiverse condition and a special and unique way of thinking and being in a world that can be very loud, busy, and overwhelming in a variety of ways for someone with ADHD. Chrissie’s new book, Love Me, Love My ADHD celebrates the uniqueness that comes with ADHD and that it manifests differently in different people, and that everyone who has it experiences the world around them differently and has to do different things like stimming, using noise cancelling headphones, or taking time away from what they are doing to regulate whatever they are feeling. It shows that there are a range of ways to do this, but also acknowledges that there are times when things can get too overwhelming and people with ADHD can feel their emotions too intensely and meltdown.

Chrissie is a child behaviour expert, and she has written this lovely book to encourage families, educators, and children to understand ADHD and its complexities, and how it works in the human brain. It is a good book for everyone, because it helps people with ADHD know that they are seen and that their experiences are valid through Clancy and Tully’s family – with three people who have ADHD, and they all experience it in different ways – they are still loved and everyone around them does everything they can to help Clancy and Tully navigate their lives and what they do every day. It shows that like everyone, ADHDers have their good and bad days – they might feel things more intensely, or they have to work out different ways to cope with their days. It also explores how when they’re in a situation they need to be in, like school, they might need to stand to work, for example, and what it means when the school and teachers are supportive towards everyone in the class and make sure everyone gets what they need out of their days.

Clancy and Tully’s world has differences and similarities to a non-ADHD world, and I liked how this was reflected, because the story and images by Trish Burton perfectly illustrate and explain the diversity of the ADHD world, and the families who have ADHD in their lives. The breakout text and explanations of terms is good for readers of all ages to help them understand the language used in relation to ADHD, and the different ways people in Clancy and Tully’s family act, or how they focus on and take part in their interests, which are varied. Chrissie also uses the story to explain how someone with ADHD might focus on an interest and what might happen when they lose interest or are so invested that it becomes part of them, just like their ADHD is part of them. And in the same way, every disability or neurodiversity is part of them. Clancy and Tully can do anything they want – they have to do it in their own way, which is the key thing I took away from this picture book, and I think that it is great for all ages. Anyone can learn a lot from this book and it is filled with empathy and understanding for everyone in this world and how we can and should make the world more accepting and accessible for everyone so we can all participate in society in the best way that we can.