David's Story: A Book about Surgery (Meeting the Challenge) [Library Binding]

Benjamin Brink (Author), Ben Brink (Author, Photographer)

Book Description

Age Level: 7 and up | Grade Level: 2 and up | Series: Meeting the Challenge

Explains what happens to a boy who has an operation to correct the problems with his face caused by birth defects.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 3-5?When David was born, his eyes were too far apart and his nose was misaligned, making it difficult for him to breathe. Now seven years old, he is examined by a team of specialists and later admitted to the hospital. The description of the surgery is detailed and fascinating, and the full-color photos are excellent in conveying the care and skill involved in such delicate surgery. While this is a well-organized and well-written look at a child's hospital experience, it won't be useful as an addition to going-to-the-hospital collections, as very few children will ever go through such a radical procedure (having an eye bolted into place and a new nostril made). It's a fine book and will not frighten young readers, but be advised that it's not a let's-have-ice-cream-after-our-tonsillectomy story.?Christine A. Moesch, Buffalo & Erie County Public Library, NY
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Gr. 3^-5, with adult input. Although there are several books for this age group about hospital experiences--among them James Howe's Hospital Book (1994)--few are as specific as this one. In fact, because this is so straightforward, it will be best used with a grown-up at hand. Brink focuses on a boy, David, who is having surgery to correct a serious facial abnormality. Through David's experience, readers are introduced to information about the surgical process (what an anesthetic does; what the operating room looks like; what the doctors do to David's face) and to the scary feelings that are commonly linked to such an ordeal. The full-color photos are unaccountably amateurish, more like pictures from a family album than shots for a planned photo-essay. And although the photos are not really sensationalized, they are sometimes quite frightening, especially those showing David on the operating table hooked up to life-support machinery and oozing blood from several cuts. But the book does come full circle--it ends with a number of pictures of David after the successful operation, smiling happily on a swing, in school, and at play with his very best friend. Kids will be left with the impression that surgery may be scary and difficult, but it can accomplish some pretty great things. Stephanie Zvirin

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 7 and up
  
• Library Binding: 32 pages
• Publisher: Lerner Publishing Group (August 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0822525771
• ISBN-13: 978-0822525776
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 7.9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,085,508 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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