Resource
Bess and Friends Braille Scratch and Sniff Books
These scratch and sniff books with uncontracted braille are designed to provide a multi-sensory experience for children who are blind or visually impaired.
Updated August 2023
Susan Irwin has created two Bess and Friends scratch and sniff books with uncontracted braille to give children who are blind or visually impaired a multi-sensory experience. These books have large print and brightly colored illustrations, as well as scented graphics for children of all abilities.
Fun Foods with Bess and Friends is the first in this series and is designed for young children who are blind or visually impaired to have fun learning about different kinds of foods. The introduction to the book notes, “The unique combination of braille with matching scented graphics help to make the learning process fun and interesting! Adult supervision and guidance is recommended to help the children navigate each scent located within the graphics on each page.”
Scratch and Sniff Graphics on Each Page
The rhyming pages each feature a different scent, including popcorn, hot dog, pizza, chocolate, pumpkin pie, marshmallows, cotton candy, cinnamon roll, jelly beans, and cake. The actual foods could be introduced with each page, so that children with visual impairments would be able to experience the real flavors. In the “Fruity Fruit” book, there are individual braille dots for each fruit for children to count off.
Illustrations Show a Variety of Children
The illustrations feature children with different types of disabilities (including a wheelchair, a cane, glasses), as well as some ethnic and cultural variations.
Each children’s book measures 8.5 x 11 and is spiral bound, so it lays completely flat for more comfortable reading.
Book Bag
A FREE BOOK BAG comes with trio book purchase. It measures 13.5″W x 14″H, with 22″ handles, which is perfect to hold each child’s book collection. Who doesn’t love freebies?
Educators who are interested in bulk orders, visit the website for contact information
Spanish Version Coming Soon!
Spanish version of Fun Foods will soon be available, visit website for details.
Visit the Bess and Friends website and shop
