Few picture books are available for adults and adolescents who cannot read or who have difficulty reading.

Fewer still provide information and address the emotional aspects of difficult events like the Books Beyond Words series. Each specially commissioned book actively addresses the problems of understanding that people with learning and communication difficulties experience.

The stories are told through color pictures, helping readers to cope with events such as going to the doctor, bereavement, sexual abuse and depression. The stylized drawings include mime and body language to communicate simple, explicit messages to the reader. People with learning disabilities test the pictures, before publication, to ensure that they can be readily understood. Each title in this award-winning series (Book Trust "Read Easy" Awards 1990 & 1994) can be used as a counseling or educational resource.

Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology says:
"These books are powerful interpretive tools for anyone who works with people with developmental disabilities..." 

Disability Now calls these books "...gentle, thoughtful and factual..." 

David Allen, Journal of Intellectual Disability Research praises:
"The acid test for these publications has to be whether or not one would find them useful in clinical practice... my own answer would be an unequivocal 'Yes.'"

Published jointly by the Royal College of Psychiatrists and St George's Hospital Medical School.