From Library Journal
Following the same format and style as Magill's Medical Guide: Health and Illness, this two-volume set contains 352 essays covering a variety of diseases and disorders affecting infants, children, and teenagersAfrom baby teeth and jaundice to mononucleosis and port-wine stains. Ninety of these essays already appear in Magill's, while the remaining 262 entries were specially commissioned. Varying in length from 1000 to 2000 words, the essays are clearly written; each includes a definition, age(s) affected, information about the part of the body affected, and medical specialties that deal with the disease. The bibliographic references, which draw from medical journals and textbooks as well as from popular sources, are uniformly current. This is a densely worded text, with occasional stock black-and-white photographs or line drawings, most of which are not especially helpful; a number of entries, such as frostbite, would have benefited from an illustration. Topics such as abortion, gender identification, tattoos, and body piercing are sensitively covered. Also included is a selective list of groups and organizations that offer information and support for pediatric concerns ranging from albinism to twinless twins. By comparison, the single-volume Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons' Complete Guide to Early Child Care (Crown, 1990) covers similar topics in an entirely different format, and the excellent Complete Guide to Your Children's Health (Random, 1999), from the American Medical Association, is a superb reference including many relevant line drawings and decision trees. Though not essential, Children's Health is recommended as an additional purchase for reference collections in large public libraries and for consumer health libraries.AMartha Stone, Massachusetts General Hosp. Lib., Boston
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
