Themes relating to true friendship, kindness, vulnerability, courage and finding your place, plus four inspiring autistic characters that are relatable and make a difference combine to make Small Acts by Kate Gordon and Kate Foster, an engrossing and powerful story. This book gifts readers an insight into the varied ways autism may present and the different behaviours, challenges and coping mechanisms an autistic person may experience.
Josh and Ollie are both in the same Year 5 class and for different reasons have recently lost a close friend. Josh’s neighbour, Andrew, is awarded a scholarship to a new school, meaning Josh no longer sees him on a regular basis. They shared a passion for photography. Ollie’s best friend Millie was incredibly mean to her resulting in their close friendship coming to an abrupt end. Josh and Ollie both share this loss, the same teacher, Mr Parham and both have kind hearts, but this is where the commonalities end.
Mr Parham shares a video with the class where the children see people helping others and the impact of kindness. This has Josh fixated and it captures his heart and mind. Josh ponders deeply how he may be able to replicate what he sees in the video. He questions whether he has the ability to make a difference and if he does who should he be kind to? He has a lot of big questions and uses his journal to make methodical lists and organise his thoughts.
Ollie, as she likes to be called, as her name is Olivia Alwyn Joan Richards, also has big questions and hers have been triggered by her once best friend being so cruel. Ollie feels she is not enough. She expresses herself through her art. She is a talented artist and finds inspiration in nature to create her sculptures and works of art.
The video is a catalyst for transformative change for Josh, Ollie and Andrew who not only come together in a creative way, using their strengths and skills to make the world a better place, but in the process lean into their fears, face them head on resulting in empowering lessons learned and strong friendships gained.