Rewriting the Rules - Perfect Picture Book Friday #PPBF

Refusing to let a diagnosis of cerebral palsy define or limit their daughter, Kathleen Friel's family fought for her and helped her develop the determination, resilience, and inventiveness to not only obtain a PhD, but discover ways to help injured brains to create new connections. This is an inspiring and humbling biography of an amazingly talented doctor who continues to change the rules and our understanding of the brain.

Rewriting the Rules: How Dr. Kathleen Friel Created New Possibilities for Brain Research and Disability

Author: Danna Zeiger

Illustrator: Josée Bisaillon

Publisher: Millbrook Press/Lerner Publishing (September 9, 2025)

Ages: 6 -10

Nonfiction Biography

Themes:

Science, biography, neurology, and determination.

Synopsis:

When Kathleen Friel was young, she was diagnosed with cerebral palsy, and a doctor told her parents all the things she'd never be able to do.

They left his office for good and found a new doctor.

As Kathleen grew up, she found her own methods to tackle tricky tasks and make her way through the world. After becoming fascinated by science, she went on to earn a PhD, investigating how injured brains can build new connections. She now runs her own lab, developing new techniques to help others with cerebral palsy.

This is the incredible story of how a determined scientist rewrote the rules and followed her dreams.

Opening Lines: Dandelion wisps dared Kathleen to make wishes.

Kathleen blew.

Or, at least, she tried.

Kathleen's eyes blinked.

Her head shook.

Her arm trembled.

The fluffy seeds stayed stuck. What I LOVED about this book:

Lyrically written and gorgeously illustrated, this biography introduces the world to an amazing doctor who has rewritten many, many rules. As a child, when she couldn't blow the dandelion seeds, she joyously waved them free.

 Text © Danna Zeiger, 2025. Image © Josée Bisaillon, 2025.

Rather than listen to a doctor who wanted to limit and institutionalize Kathleen (because of her cerebral palsy), her parents found another doctor who saw Kathleen's intelligence and determination. On his advice, Kathleen's parents treated (and disciplined) her just like her two younger brothers, and they demanded that of her teachers as well.

Text © Danna Zeiger, 2025. Image © Josée Bisaillon, 2025.

I love the child focused aspects of an adult "never wore socks but always wore a smile," putting on your own clothes and shoes (a frequent challenge for all kids), cleaning, and helping out around the house. Josée Bisaillon's colorful mixed-media illustrations wonderfully capture Kathleen's differences without overly focusing on them. Showing instead her heart and drive. And the amazing gift of believing in oneself.

Danna Zeiger does a great job of relating Kathleen's daily struggles (from surgeries to cutting up food) in a touching way to both highlight the book's throughline that though she had to work harder to accomplish things Kathleen often discovered (or created) her own way to do them - rewriting "the rules for even the smallest movements." Briefly showing her schooling experience and how she won over her classmates, for me it is the moment in college when Kathleen discovers her life's purpose and research goal - to rewrite the rules for brain injury treatment - that I find impressive and so inventively represented.

Text © Danna Zeiger, 2025. Image © Josée Bisaillon, 2025.

Kathleen graduated from college and studied brain-injured monkeys, hoping to prove her thesis that training can create new neurological connections. She succeeded, "making an unsolvable problem . . . solvable." Kathleen earned her PhD. Dr. Friel had once again rewritten the rules. Although tenacious, precise, and smart, just like in elementary school, it took her co-workers some time to discover her humor, kindness, and marvelous mentoring. But she never gave up. She just gave them time to listen.

Despite all she's accomplished and everyone she's helped in her lab and camps, on a daily basis Kathleen deals with discrimination, ignorance, and danger. I hope you'll check out this awesome biography to see all the amazing things Kathleen Friel has done and experienced. The heart-felt author's note details Danna's personal connection as Kathleen's mentee, additional information about Dr. Friel, and a call for all of us to "rewrite the rules." This is a poignant and passionate ode to a magnificent woman who, despite a myriad of obstacles, has created ways to rewrite societal expectations and brain injury treatments.

Resources:

• make a brain hemisphere hat (card stock model) - see a video of construction.

• 

  make a neuron with playdough, bead, or pipe cleaner (and a few more) or use a combination of a Styrofoam ball (or pom pom)/straw/pipe cleaners/& beads. What other items can you find around the house to make a neuron?

• is there something you have found hard to do? Did you create your own way to do it? Could you create a way to make it easier to do?

• pair this with How the Brain Works: The Facts Visually Explained by DK, National Geographic Kids Brain Games: The Mind-Blowing Science of Your Amazing Brain by Jennifer Swanson, and The Brain Book

  by Liam Drew.

If you missed my interview with Danna Zeiger on Monday, find it (here).

This post is part of a series of blog posts by authors and KidLit bloggers called Perfect Picture Book Fridays. For more picture book suggestions and resources see Susanna Leonard Hill's Perfect Picture Books.