Minna's Masks
This gentle picturebook makes the invisible visible, using metaphor as a doorway into a profound experience: the daily effort of masking to navigate a world that often feels too loud, too fast, or simply too much.
Minna, a neurodivergent child, uses her collection of invisible masks to brace herself for noise, newness, and uncertainty until, on her first day at a new school, the masks are missing, and she feels exposed. What follows is not a meltdown, but a tender moment of recognition: a boy who quietly reveals he, too, wears masks.
Avgustinovich’s artwork captures emotion with sensitivity and nuance. Her palette is soft but expressive, and her use of layered textures beautifully evokes both overstimulation and inner resilience. Each spread carries a mood, from the chaos of a noisy classroom to the calm of a teacher’s understanding. There’s a lovely balance of specificity and universality here, making this a powerful read not only for neurodivergent children, but for any child who has ever needed help being brave enough to be themselves.
A final spread offers a helpful note for parents and caregivers about masking and how to support children who rely on it. While the story is accessible to a broad picturebook audience, it may resonate especially with neurodivergent readers or any child navigating social or sensory overwhelm. Without ever naming diagnoses in the story, though offering information on AuDHD at the end, it offers both children and adults a shared language for discussing invisible coping strategies, and a gentle reminder: everyone wears a mask sometimes.
