There are few books that I’ll get passionate about, and even fewer that I’ll call required reading for parents.  I’ve reviewed parenting books before and I can say that usually they’re what I’d call subjective strategies.  This isn’t the case for Sky’s book.  This should be required reading in school, and it should be required reading for parents of toddlers.  Why?

Sky’s story is heartbreaking at times.  It is a pretty difficult read for those of us with little ones.  See, it’s hard to imagine your child going through some of the difficulties Sky went through during the young years of his life.  He’s really had some struggles, and what’s more is that all of them could have been avoided with the proper education for the people around him.

The book is required reading simply because it teaches.  It does so at an incredible pace, as you can literally read the first few chapters and come away with an incredible understanding of how people with dyslexia process information.  How they perceive the world differently, and how they view things like space and time.  It’s an incredible piece of insight.  Proving what I’m saying is the fact that the book is now being used in the US College system as required reading for teachers.

Need further proof of why this is required reading?  Let me tell you my own personal story about Sky’s book and how it’s already impacted my (and my little nephew’s life) in a positive way.

I’d personally struggled building a positive relationship with my dyslexic nephew.  It makes a lot of sense now, but before reading the book I struggled with why.  When I look back, I see that I’ve built a life based on engineering, science, math, and (in case you hadn’t noticed that I was doing this…) writing.

We struggled because I was always trying to teach.  Similar to what I do with this site and what I do with Kids Fun Channel, I was building a relationship through what I thought was helping him.  Instead, what I’ve come to learn is that I was frustrating him and perhaps I could have been even hurting him.

I saw my little nephew today, one day after reading Sky’s book, and I can promise you that I approached our relationship differently.  I appreciated him for who he is, and I have even learned some ways to help him learn.  It’s amazing that this book was so applicable in so little of a time.

The Author

Now forget for a moment the fact that Sky Rota is 13.  Forget the fact that he’s a regular kid who wants to play basketball with his friends, learn, grow, and do great things with his life.  Forget that he looks a little like a modern day Ralph Macchio in the Karate Kid (see the picture below).

Truthfully, it’s pretty hard to forget all of that and focus on the fact that Sky has essentially undertaken educating the world on what it’s like to live with dyslexia.  He’s started something that I think is going to catch on simply because he’s explained it so well.

What I found incredible about Sky is how positive he’s managed to be about everything in his life.  He could have become an angry person (especially since he’s in that teenager range) who could have turned on the people in his life.  He could have done this all very easily, and I have to say that I’m not sure I could have been so mature about the situation he was in.  Instead, Sky has remained positive and built himself a legacy.

Regular kid…except with exceptional vision.

If you’d like to read even more about Sky, visit one of his websites.  He keeps a personal website at Skyrota.com but he also helps companies prepare for the future of Gen Z (the tech generation).  He also runs a news a news/video website at https://genzinsider.com/ that features information and articles to give you an inside scoop on Generation Z.  It’s simply amazing that he has all of this on the go and what’s more is he looks completely comfortable doing it all.  Here he is giving the inside scoop:

The Verdict

In the end, this book is only $0.98 USD on Amazon.  Sky has written something that I’m telling you should be required reading for everyone.  This is because the book explains dyslexia, the challenges, the gifts, and everything in between so well.  It’s a tool for teachers in the US College system that you, like I, can immediately apply to your life.

Thanks for reading…with your toddlers,

Brian