At AdBiblio, we love helping books find the right readers—especially ones that inspire empathy and celebrate diversity! Recently, we ran campaigns for Down Syndrome Out Loud by Melissa Hart and My Calm Down Book by Rose Rossner – two amazing children’s titles from Sourcebooks that highlight representation and emotional awareness. Here’s a look at how we helped connect them with the readers and families who needed them most!
Down Syndrome Out Loud is an anthology that brings together the voices of people with Down syndrome and their families, celebrating joy, identity, and advocacy while challenging stereotypes. Edited by Melissa Hart, the collection offers a powerful blend of personal stories, essays, and reflections that highlight the diverse experiences within the Down syndrome community.
My Calm Down Book by Rose Rossner is a sweet, practical, and very engaging picture book designed to help young children learn self-regulation skills. The story uses playful rhymes and interactive illustrations to guide kids through calming techniques—and has become a favorite bedtime story for my 3 year olds! It’s a great tool for parents, caregivers and educators looking to help build emotional awareness for their kiddos.
The Down Syndrome Out Loud campaign featured our traditional banners and targeted parents of children with special needs, special education teachers and majors, and parents of kids ages 8–12 browsing special education content online. We were also able to reach recent visitors of Gigi’s Playhouse (achievement centers for people with Down syndrome and their families)! Additional traits included middle grade and children’s book shoppers, individuals browsing children’s educational products, and those with a strong interest in the Special Olympics. Keywords focused on terms such as children’s Down syndrome books, Down syndrome picture books, special education library, books for siblings of children with disabilities, books about empathy for kids, Down syndrome advocacy, and more.
For My Calm Down Book, the client wanted to showcase the book’s unique look and feel, and a video ad proved to be the perfect format. We focused on reaching parents of children ages 3+, parents of kids with special needs, grandparents of young children, PreK–elementary teachers, and occupational therapists. We also layered in traits such as strong interest in autism and special needs, parenting and children’s book influencers, and children’s gift shoppers to expand the campaign’s reach. Comps included authors like Ben Clanton, Sandra Boynton, Jo Witek, Trace Moroney, and Dr. Becky Bailey. Keywords included phrases like children’s mental health books, books for neurodivergent kids, sensory friendly board books, books for special education classrooms, calm down corner essentials, and more!
Both campaigns finished above benchmark, with Down Syndrome Out Loud delivering a solid 0.17% CTR and My Calm Down Book achieving an outstanding 1.81% CTR.
Down Syndrome Out Loud ran across top sites such as This Reading Mama, The Everymom, We Are Teachers, A Mighty Girl, Huffington Post, The New York Times, NPR, and more, performing best with parents of kids ages 8–12 browsing special education content (0.24% CTR), parents and caretakers of kids with special needs (0.21% CTR), and our read-alike audience (0.20% CTR).
Meanwhile, My Calm Down Book video ads ran on leading sites like Neuroscience News, Simple Psychology, Imagination Soup, Parents, Scary Mommy, and Read Brightly, and connected best with parents of children with special needs (3.00% CTR!), children’s educational book shoppers interested in autism/special needs (2.10% CTR), children’s literature readers and buyers interested in autism (1.90% CTR), and occupational therapists who purchase children’s books and educational materials (1.40% CTR).
If you have a special child in your life—or simply want to share meaningful stories with the kids you love—both of these books are wonderful choices. You can find Down Syndrome Out Loud here and My Calm Down Book here. I can personally attest that my own kids (especially my son on the spectrum) truly enjoy the calming comfort of My Calm Down Book! And if you’re ready to launch your next campaign, you know where to find me!
