Anthony Best is not like the other kids in his neighborhood. He screams at loud noises, doesn't like to be called ?Tony,? spins around in circles to have fun, and throws sand at kids in the sandbox. Other kids laugh at silly knock-knock jokes, but not Anthony; he simply stands and stares. And instead of giggling, he flaps his hands when he is happy. Anthony has Asperger's syndrome, which makes him see the world in a different way. But his friend Hannah knows that although Anthony is different and doesn't play like other kids, he has something very special inside?something that makes him ?the best.? When Anthony receives a new piano, his hidden talent is revealed.

Everyone has their quirks and traits that make them different from others, as Davene Fahy and Carol Inouye illustrate, but those differences are precisely what make us special?no matter how we interact with others. With around 1.5 percent of children in the United States diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome, Anthony Best is a useful tool for teachers, speech therapists, and parents to use in discussions with children about communication problems, accepting differences, teaching tolerance, and discovering what makes each one of us special.

Davene Fahy, MA, CCC-SLP, has worked as a speech therapist and special education director for more than forty years in and around Philadelphia and in Maine. She is a life member of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA).

Carol Inouye has written and illustrated over a dozen children's books. She has also illustrated for advertising, national magazines, and television networks. Prior to becoming an illustrator, Inouye worked as an art director for several publishing houses in New York. She has won various awards for illustration, graphic design, and art direction from the New York Society of Illustrators, the New England Museum Association, and the Art Directors Club of New York.