The Scooter Twins
The Scooter Twins by Dorothy Ellen Palmer and Maria Sweeney is a story about mobility.
Melanie and Melvin are twins and it’s their eighth birthday. For their birthday they have a doctor’s appointment and the doctor has recommended they get mobility scooters to help them get to and from school. The scooters are expensive by Grandma makes it happen for them, they get to pick out a scooter that fits them perfectly.
Dorothy Ellen Palmer is a long time disability activist and The Scooter Twins is her debut picture book. The simple story allows readers to understand that disability does not fit into a nice tidy box. There are many different ways that people can experience disability and we can’t make judgements based on appearance alone. In the story, Melvin and Melanie’s disability is not labeled and neither is Grandma’s, she walks using a cane. Readers just understand that in order to get to and from school and to be able to be out in the world for longer periods of time, Melvin and Melanie would benefit from the mobility scooters. There’s a lovely message about equity and equality. The twins get what they need when they need it because it will help them better access the things they need to succeed.
Melvin and Melanie live with their grandma. Readers are not told why that is so it leaves a lot of room for inferring. Readers are able to see themselves reflected on the page if they too are living with a grandparent or not with one or both of their parents. The really nice part about the story is Dorothy Ellen Palmer has left things open ended so that so many more readers will be able to relate to Melvin and Melanie’s story.
Maria Sweeney’s illustrations are wonderful. She fills the pages with colour and I very much appreciated the scenes when Melanie and Melvin are in public and people are wearing masks in the mobility store as well as at the doctor’s office. It’s important that children’s illustrations reflect community care so that we are ensuring we are showing young readers what it means to be caring citizens.
