Customer Reviews

Hospital Book, The

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Although in some ways encyclopedic, this is THE book to have if your child faces surgery or other serious hospital procedures. I agree with the other reviewer that it can be a bit scary, especially for children who may be visiting the hospital for relatively minor procedures such as x-rays or even day surgery. But for the child, at least 4yr and medically savvy, this book is ideal. It covers everything that children might see or experience. It does not offer the same openings for expressing fear and apprehension that A Hospital Story does, but The Hospital Book is clearly designed to be more or a resource book than a story book (and its length does not really allow you to just sit down and read it to your child--although I did with my 4 year old). My daughter was well prepared to understand anesthesia and recovery rooms/holding rooms, etc. and to have some sense of who all the many people were in the hospital.

My terminally ill daughter had been to many hospital visits and surgeries when I bought this book for her at four after reading the age range and Editor's Reviews above. She didn't like the real photos of children with tubes and wires in them. It may not be a good choice for children under 7, even if you want to introduce a little reality into the situation. The black and white photos can be bleak and depressing also. It desperately needs new photos!

For older children, it covers everything! Every procedure and machine. But it's kind of like reading a medical dictonary, and seeing all the horrible things that can go wrong, when you just want to see how the heart works.