List of children's books featuring deaf characters

Approximately 466 million people or five percent of the world's population has disabling hearing loss (term defined and used by the World Health Organisation); 34 million of these are children. Despite approximately one third of people over 65 years of age being affected by disabling hearing loss Deaf adult characters are significantly underrepresented in children's books; even within books which do include a Deaf character. There have been several studies into how Deaf children are portrayed in children's literature. Historically children's books have generally conformed to an outdated cultural view of Deaf people, which resulted in books which portray those characters who happen to be Deaf as in need of saving or to be pitied. In more recent times society has improved attitudes towards deaf people and this has led in part to better representation in literature. This article highlights some of the books which reflect the diversity found within the deaf community.

There have been several campaigns such as "toy like me" and "in the picture" (by Scope UK) to encourage toy manufacturers and children's publishers to more accurately reflect society. In response to these campaigns there has been a gradual increase in the quality and quantity of Deaf characters in children's books. BookTrust, a UK children's charity, have published advice for illustrators and publishers on how to naturally include Deaf and disabled characters in children's books.

The term 'Deaf' is generally used to refer to a linguistic and cultural minority group who use sign language and are members of Deaf culture. The term 'deaf' or 'hard of hearing' is commonly used to refer to individuals with partial deafness or hearing loss. People who identify as hard of hearing or small 'd' deaf are generally not members of the Deaf sign language-using community. This distinction is useful in academic settings where precision is needed. For the purpose of this article the term 'deaf' is used to include characters with any level of deafness/hearing loss, their communication styles, use of hearing technology or none and cultural setting such as living with a hearing family or being part of the Deaf Sign Language using community to enable the reader to form their own judgements on where the character falls on the Deaf/hearing culture continuum. As in real life many fictional characters participate at least in part in both Deaf and hearing cultures and manage cross cultural relationships.

Board books for young children featuring deaf characters
Books are listed by publication date, although books are only included in the list if they have a deaf character some books also contain illustrations of other disabled characters and so when present this information has also been included in the table. Deaf adult characters are highlighted in Bold.

Picture books with deaf characters
The books are listed in date order. deaf authors and illustrators are highlighted in bold.

Early Reader's Books with deaf characters
The books are listed in date order. Deaf authors and illustrators are highlighted in bold. Note the Emma Everyday series has UK editions without fingerspelling on the cover and American editions with ASL fingerspelling illustrations on the front covers.

Comics with deaf characters
The comics are listed in date order.

Graphic novels with deaf characters
The graphic novels are listed in date order.

Middle grade books with deaf characters
The readers of these books are expected to be approximately between the ages of 8 and 12 years of age. Deaf authors names are highlighted in Bold. The books are listed in date order.

Young Adult books with deaf characters
The readers of these books are intended to be between 13 and 18. The books are in date order.