Customer Reviews

Sarah and Puffle: A Story for Children about Diabetes

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This book is a story about a child finding out she has diabetes. My son really likes reading about diabetes. He realizes he is not the only one and that other children have this disease as well.

This is a nice book but outlines an older way of dealing with diabetes. If your child is on a short acting insulin, foods really do not need to be limited. This book mentions restrictions.

I came across this book in a used books store, and I loved it! It deals honestly with the sad and angry feelings that children with diabetes may have, and tells them that it's okay to have these feelings.

One part that of the book that stood out to me was when Sarah was packing for the family trip to the farm, and tells her mother that her diabetes care supplies won't fit into her luggage. Her mother intervenes and re - arranges her belongings to make room for Sarah's care kit. For parents, these sorts of diversions from their children can be irritating. Don't they understand how important their medicine and shots are? What this book helps to show is a little girl upset by the dramatic changes in her lifestyle, who just wants things to be the way they were before. Reality constantly interferes and makes her more and more upset until the last straw comes that finally breaks the camel's back.

Luckily, Sarah's stuffed lamb, Puffle, comes to life in one of Sarah's dreams at exactly the right moment, and soothes her mistress's sad and angry feelings with cute, upbeat rhymes. Puffle emphasizes to Sarah that everyone is different in some ways, and that if she takes her medicine and keeps herself healthy, she can do anything anyone else can do!

Another important part of the book is that it touches on the importance of telling others about certain health conditions, so they can provide help if need be. Parents can broaden this lesson to include food allergies, asthma, learning disabilites, what have you....self - advocacy is SUCH an important skill for children with chronic health issues to develop.

This book was written in the 1990s. Things have changed. And for the better. The little girl in this book has many problems with being different from her cousins by having diabetes. Guess what? In 2008, kids feel different if they don't have an allergy, asthma, thyroid problems, glasses, or speech problems. This book may be appropriate if your child is already having a hard time sharing her story about diabetes, however, I think the world is a different place for kids with diabetes and I would discourage anyone to put ideas into their kids heads about being upset to have diabetes. Yes it sucks to get shots all day long for the rest of your life, but we are sending a bad message for kids to feel sorry for themselves thru this book. Taking Diabetes to School has a much better message about Diabetes being okay.