Big Brother Dustin by Alden Carter

Carter, Alden. Big Brother Dustin. Morton Grove: Albert Whitman & Company, 1997.

Based on the true experience of a young boy with Down syndrome, Big Brother Dustin explains the thoughts and feelings that young children often have when expecting a new sibling. Dustin is a helpful and thoughtful young boy who spends the months before the arrival of his new baby sister trying to discover the perfect name for her. The real photographs that accompany the text bring this non-fiction picture book to life. Dustin has his first great idea to name his new sister after his grandmother Mary but then decides that this may not be the greatest idea because it might make his other grandmother feel sad. Dustin continues to help his parents prepare for the big day by folding laundry and hanging the mobile in his sister’s crib. He even takes a class at the hospital on how to be a good sibling so that he can be the best big brother a little girl could ask for. At the class Dustin meets Barbra Ann, which starts Dustin thinking of names again. He likes the name Ann because it is his other grandmother’s name and he thinks maybe he could name his sister Ann Mary, but it just did not seem right. Finally, days before the arrival of his new baby sister Dustin discovers the perfect name. His sister will be Mary Ann. The name could not have been thought of at a better time. For soon, Dustin was at the hospital being the perfect big brother to the perfect little baby with the perfect name, Mary Ann. Although the text provides a lot of dialog between Dustin and his family, much can be taken from the photographs, including the fact that Dustin has a disability.

Alden Carter, author of Big Brother Dustin conducted much research before writing the book. After focusing on Down syndrome and finding as much information on the disability as he could from the resources available, Alden Carter met with a family that had a child with Down syndrome. Alden Carter based the dialog for the book after the interactions he witnessed between the boy with Down syndrome and the rest of his family. Alden Carter followed the family through the experiences depicted in the book. At the end of the book Alden Carter shows pictures of Dustin carrying out various activities and below each pictures gives a caption using the words that the boy used to describe that action. The time and effort of research and interaction with the family and the boy with Down syndrome make Alden Carter an informed, insider author who attempts to create a positive portrayal of Down syndrome within literature. Alden Carter never explicitly points out that Dustin has Down syndrome and this fact is gained through the physical characterization of Dustin in the pictures. By not describing Dustin as having Down syndrome in the text, Alden Carter is attempting to put the person first which is a main goal for the representation of persons with disabilities within literature. Alden Carter may not be trying to avoid the fact that Dustin has Down syndrome but he is relying on the pictures to tell the rest of the story. Good picture books let the text and the illustrations or pictures inform each other and each provides pivotal information to the story. However, the pictures and the text should tell the same story and in Big Bother Dustin the reader is hearing two different versions of the same story. One through the text in which Dustin is a boy just like every other boy and another through the pictures in which Dustin is different from other “normal looking” children. Although the text of Big Brother Dustin can be read as any kid carrying out the activities, the pictures show how Dustin carries out activities differently than other children. Children who have Down Syndrome view the world and react differently to the world than children without Down Syndrome and the break down of Dustin’s thoughts through dialog helps to show a few of these differences. Even though Alden Carter is attempting to show the differences and similarities that exist between people with and without Down syndrome, the book is lacking a complete explanation of Down syndrome that may help readers understand the disability and how those that have Down syndrome function within society. This book may be great for those that have an understanding of Down syndrome and/or know someone who has Down syndrome. However, someone who is unfamiliar with the disability may have trouble picking up on subtleties within the book. It would have been helpful to have an author’s note that explained some of the characteristics of Down syndrome explicitly for readers. It could easily be interpreted that this book depicts people who have Down syndrome as having only physical differences than people without it, but it does not seem that this was the intention of the author. In order for this book to be completely accurate it would seem appropriate that readers of any age should be able to pick up this book and see how they are different and similar to people with Down syndrome, physically as well as emotionally and mentally. Although this book has many great aspects, it is lacking crucial information that would undoubtedly push this book over the line of a good representation of persons with disabilities within multicultural literature.