In this paper, I examine tactile picture books designed for readers with vision impairments as a site for both developing and conceptualising tactile literacy. Tactile picture books designed for readers with vision impairments are far from new. Yvonne Eriksson takes 1784 as the starting point for her historical analysis -  the year Valentin Haüy laid the foundations of what would go on to become the first institute for the education of blind children in Paris - yet she acknowledges that writing for blind readers existed as early as the 9^th century, citing Japanese relief prints conserved in Bucharest (Eriksson, 1998). Tactile picture books remain a global phenomenon to this day, with practitioners coming together to share their work in the now-biennial international ‘Typhlo and Tactus’ competition for tactile picture books, an organisation that also published its own guide, sharing the practices of many international practitioners in the field (Claudet, 2009). Across history and geography, tactile picture books are explicitly made to be felt, touched, and manipulated, relying on their materiality to convey their pictures and illustrations. Rather than being ‘pretty’ to look at, they are first and foremost books to be read with the hands, which calls for an embodied, rather than visual, approach to illustration (Bara, 2018; Claudet, 2019). In present-day Britain, tactile picture books are often a homemade affair, with charities distributing volunteer-made books, and practitioners making their own, often specially for and with specific students. These books are often made with particular aims in mind, such as developing pre-braille skills or working against tactile selectiveness. They also supposedly bolster language and literacy skills, as well as understanding and memory (Bara, 2018), whilst also allowing certain students to develop the tactile diagram skills they will need in future examinations (Norman, 2004). Nevertheless, tactile picture books remain under-researched, with the research that exists often narrowly focused on the ‘correct’ decoding of tactile images, ignoring the fact that these books are also designed to be pleasurable and bring enjoyment to their readers. Students are invited to physically engage with these books as a key part of their learning, and their teachers’ understandings of tactile literacy extend beyond simply the acquisition of braille.

Using multiple case studies, I draw on interview and observation data collected as part of my PhD research to explore how tactile picture books support the development of so-called tactile literacy, whilst also questioning how we can understand tactile literacy more expansively. Speaking with practitioners working in publishing, for charities, as storytellers, and as qualified teachers of children and young people with vision impairments, I map the perspectives of practitioners across settings, whilst also drawing on observation data from charity playgroups, storytelling sessions, and schools. This data analysis sits alongside analysis of the materiality of tactile picture books themselves, both commercial and homemade.

Notions of literacy permeate our educational sphere in many forms: visual literacy, health literacy, financial literacy, computer literacy, racial literacy, cultural literacy. It is time to pay greater attention to an expanded notion of tactile literacy, instead of relegating it to the bottom of a sensory hierarchy that privileges vision above all else. Tactile picture books provide the ideal site for such an exploration. In attending to more abstract forms of tactile literacy, I argue that the way we understand tactile picture books speaks to how we understand childhood and disability more broadly. When we start to question the fundamental assumptions that are the basis for the creation of tactile picture books and the tactile literacy they support, we must also start to question the fundamental assumptions surrounding what we mean by inclusive education.

Bara, F. (2018). The Effect of Tactile Illustrations on Comprehension of Storybooks by Three Children with Visual Impairments: An Exploratory Study. Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, 112(6), 759–765. Claudet, P. (Ed.). (2009). The Typhlo & Tactus Guide to Children’s Books. Claudet, P. (2019). Tactile Illustrated Books: Did You Say, ‘A Little Miracle?’ Bookbird, 57(2), 50–58. Eriksson, Y. (1998). Tactile pictures: Pictorial representations for the blind, 1784-1940. Acta Universitatis Gothoburgensis. Norman, J. (2004). If I remember rightly – tactile illustrations enable greater access to books. British Journal of Visual Impairment, 22(2), 71–73.