Practical Pediatrician: The A to Z Guide to Your Child's Health, Behavior, and Safety (Scientific American Books) [Paperback]

Howard Markel (Author), Frank A. Oski (Author)

Book Description

Series: Scientific American Books | Publication Date: May 1996

This is a reference text for new parents. All of the issues are described in detail, followed by commonly asked questions and their answers. There are also fold-out charts, checklists and tables.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Drawing upon their own experience as practicing physicians and on the experience of other healthcare providers, board-certified pediatricians Markel and Oski have written a childcare book in dictionary format that focuses on "the health, behavioral, and safety needs of the child from birth to about eight" years. Topics are discussed at length in a readable style, and some are accompanied by illustrations that help make the written explanations more understandable. There are extensive cross-references to related topics, and a thorough index facilitates location of specific information. Suggestions for additional reading are included when appropriate. An excellent complement to Laura Nathanson's The Portable Pediatrician for Parents (LJ 4/15/94), this is recommended for patient education/consumer health collections.
Mary J. Jarvis, Methodist Hosp. Medical Lib., Lubbock, Tex.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

This handbook "focuses on the health, behavioral, and safety needs" of children from birth to about eight years of age, with more information provided about children's needs at the younger end of this spectrum. Refreshingly, the authors (both medical doctors and fellows of the American Academy of Pediatrics) take a commonsense approach that trusts parental instincts and places emphasis on the do's rather than the don'ts of child rearing.

Topics covered run the gamut from ways to determine when abdominal pain demands medical attention to diagnosing zoster (shingles). Other topics include how to select and evaluate day-care options, how to discipline and negotiate with a child, and injuries that can be prevented with simple safety precautions. Also provided are checklists that can be used to determine a child's health in various areas (e.g., attention deficit disorder, appropriate speech and hearing development), chronological charts detailing development, and a detailed index.

The Practical Pediatrician's low-key approach to child care, its gender-neutral language, and a reading level that will be accessible to parents with a high-school education distinguish it from the minutely detailed precision and less-accessible reading level of Benjamin Spock's classic Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care (1992, 6th rev. ed.). The Practical Pediatrician might most appropriately be compared with Brazelton's Touchpoints (1992), which provides both a topical (but not alphabetical) and chronological arrangement and is written at a slightly lower reading level. Each provides unique information, making the two complementary. For example, Brazelton provides nine pages on breast-feeding, while The Practical Pediatrician gives 17 pages; The Practical Pediatrician discusses car seats, but Brazelton does not; Brazelton discusses hospitalization issues, The Practical Pediatrician does not.

The Practical Pediatrician is an excellent resource for all parents. Although it has considerable reference value due to its alphabetical arrangement, it might be more helpful in a library's circulating collection, since parents will probably read it cover to cover and then buy it for their personal libraries. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 364 pages
• Publisher: W.H. Freeman & Company; 1 edition (May 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0716728966
• ISBN-13: 978-0716728962
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,957,618 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great tips and description of childhood illness'., October 7, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Practical Pediatrician: The A to Z Guide to Your Child's Health, Behavior, and Safety (Scientific American Books) (Paperback)

I've bought this book for shower gifts and borrowed it many times. I'm finally ordering one for my self. It give easy to understand discription of illness' and gives you advice on what you can do to help and when you should see the doctor.