Only 7 per cent of published books are available in formats that help visually impaired readers — and less than 2 per cent are produced in braille, according to Fleur Star, senior editor at DK, who helped create the series described below. For a sighted parent, that statistic is easy to scroll past. For a blind or partially sighted child, it means walking into almost any bookshop and finding that the shelves simply weren't built with them in mind.

That gap is exactly what the DK Braille series was created to close. Developed by DK in partnership with the RNIB (Royal National Institute of Blind People), this is a line of children's books that combines tactile images, braille, and large print — designed so a blind child and a sighted parent can read the very same page together.

At first glance, DK Braille books look like any other richly illustrated DK title. Look closer and the design does something unusual: raised braille dots sit directly on the page alongside large, high-contrast printed text and tactile images — shapes that are embossed, flocked, glossed, or die-cut so a child can trace them with a fingertip.

— Uncontracted Unified English Braille (UEB)

The braille used throughout is Uncontracted Unified English Braille (UEB) — the foundational, letter-by-letter form of braille, rather than the more compressed "contracted" braille fluent adult readers use. That makes the series especially well suited to children who are just starting to learn to read by touch. If you are looking for more tactile resources, feel free to browse our dedicated collection of braille books for kids.

Blind and partially sighted children

Children with other developmental disabilities

Sighted children and families

are the primary audience. There are more than 25,000 blind and partially sighted children in the UK alone, and for most of them, a physical book they can read independently — rather than having a story read to them — is genuinely rare. DK Braille gives these children direct access to knowledge and stories through touch, at exactly the age when early reading experiences shape a lifelong relationship with books. These literacy tools belong to a wider category of daily living aids designed to help individuals navigate the world with autonomy.

who learn well through touch and tactile exploration also benefit, even when braille literacy isn't the primary goal — the mix of texture, contrast, and hands-on discovery supports sensory learning more broadly. For these children, pairing books with specialized sensory toys can significantly enhance tactile discrimination and emotional regulation.

are built into the design, not an afterthought. Because braille and large print sit side by side, the books work as a genuinely shared reading tool: a sighted parent can read with a blind child, and a blind or partially sighted parent can read with a sighted child. Reviewers have noted that sighted siblings get pulled in too, drawn by the same colourful, high-contrast pictures that make the pages engaging for low-vision readers.

1. DK Braille: Shapes (Ages 0–5)

2. DK Braille: Counting (Ages 0–5)

Introduces basic shapes through raised outlines and cut-out negative space, letting a child feel a shape's edge and its "missing" space at the same time — turning an abstract idea like "circle" or "triangle" into something they can hold under a finger.

Takes children through numbers to ten using a wide range of textures — silky, crackly, sticky, and smooth objects — set inside a simple rhyming story, so counting practice happens inside a narrative rather than as a drill.

3. DK Braille: Animals (Ages 7+)

4. DK Braille: On the Move (Ages 7+)

A reference-style introduction to the animal kingdom using large embossed and flocked images alongside high-contrast photography, ending in a short quiz that lets readers practise identifying what they've just felt.

Applies the same reference-book format to vehicles and transport — cranes, submarines, hot-air balloons — again closing with a quiz to reinforce tactile discrimination skills.

The standout title for older readers, according to Janna Harvey, a teacher of the visually impaired who reviewed the series for Future Reflections. She singled it out as the book she found most engaging, because it tackles something braille readers rarely get help with: scale. A blind child can hold a small toy shark, but there's no easy way to feel how a shark compares to a human, or how a hailstone the size of a golf ball compares to one the size of a grapefruit. Through comparative tactile images, It Can't Be True! gives concrete shape to ideas — size, scale, distance — that are otherwise almost entirely visual.

They support early literacy

They reduce isolation.

They build confidence

They've earned mainstream critical recognition

Braille readers who start young — with the same kind of casual, repeated exposure sighted toddlers get to printed letters — tend to build stronger foundational reading skills. In inclusive classrooms, educators often integrate these books alongside other classroom learning aids for kids to accommodate diverse learning styles and improve engagement.

A recurring theme in how families describe these books is relief: the discovery that a braille book doesn't have to be a specialist, isolating object, but can sit on the same shelf and be read at the same bedtime as every other book in the house. One mother, describing her six-year-old deafblind son's reaction to Shapes, wrote about how much he loved exploring the cut-out shapes — and how the book worked for him and his sighted younger brother at the same time. Creating a dedicated learning space or studying our guide on how to create a calming sensory room for adhd and autism (OT-approved) can further help children unwind and enjoy reading time without sensory overload.

Because the books are designed to be read by touch without needing an adult to narrate every page, they give children room to explore at their own pace — a kind of independence that's harder to come by when every book requires someone else to read it aloud. Teachers frequently pair these literacy tools with specialized classroom sensory tools for ADHD, autism, dyspraxia, and dyslexia to create an inclusive, supportive environment for all students.

DK Braille titles have received starred reviews from both Kirkus Reviews, which called the series "a winning series that is truly for all board-book readers and their grown-ups," and Publishers Weekly, which praised the "polished design and execution" as making the books "a valuable resource." That kind of mainstream recognition is unusual for accessible-format publishing — it reflects DK's choice to treat these as genuinely well-made children's books first, with accessibility built into that standard rather than treated as a separate category.

• Frequently Asked Questions

The series covers ages 0 to 12+, from touch-and-feel board books (Shapes, Counting) for toddlers and preschoolers, to reference-style titles (Animals, On the Move) for ages 7+, and It Can't Be True! for readers 9 and up.

No. Every page pairs raised braille with large printed text, so a parent, teacher, or sibling who doesn't read braille can follow along word for word.

No. They're designed as a shared reading tool — for blind or partially sighted children reading with sighted family members, for sighted children of blind or partially sighted parents, and for any child who benefits from tactile, sensory learning. If your child responds well to physical interaction, you might also consider introducing sensory toys for movement, which help active learners release energy before sitting down to read.

A Small Series With an Outsized Purpose

Five titles won't close the wider shortage of accessible and braille books on their own. But the DK Braille series shows that accessible design and genuinely good design aren't in tension — a book built for a blind child's fingertips turned out to be one sighted children, parents, and teachers wanted to pick up too.