Book Review: Victoria's Day

Campos, Maria de Fatima. Victoria’s Day. Great Britain: Frances Lincoln Limited, 2007.

Victoria’s Day is about a little girl named Victoria who has Downs Syndrome. Throughout the entire book it describes all the activities Victoria does on an every day basis ranging from eating breakfast in the morning, walking to school, playing with friends to going to sleep at night.

The author, Maria Campos, is the mother of Victoria. This means that she is an insider to this group of people with disabilities because she experiences what it’s like raising a child with Downs Syndrome. Maria Campos wrote this book to show readers the similarities between Victoria’s pre-school experiences and those of her classmates. She wanted to make it clear to her readers that her daughter’s life isn’t much different from anyone else her age. Victoria is capable of brushing her own teeth, painting her own pictures, playing on a computer, cooking with her mummy, etc. These are all the same activities people without Downs Syndrome do on a regular basis.

This book is considered a diverse piece of literature because it portrays Victoria’s disability in such a positive way. Never once does the author mention anything negative about Victoria and the way she accomplishes her tasks. Maria stayed clear of stereotyping throughout her book and avoided using “nasty words” as the Linton article mentions to describe Victoria. This book does a great job of showing how Victoria’s disability isn’t stopping her from doing anything and she can still live a life like anyone else.