Picture Books About Hospitals (Medical Momma Toolkit, Post One)

When a surgery or hospital stay for your child looms, it is easy to get caught up in all of our adult preparations.  It's even easier to totally forget about preparing your little -soon to be- patient and her siblings.  Our little people have sensitive spirits and catch on quickly when mommy and daddy are heavy on emotion.  Over the past year plus of 12 hospital encounters with three kids, we've learned some things about preparing ourselves and our kids.  

One of the biggies?  Knowledge.  They say it is power, and that's truth.

Little minds tend to wonder and wander onto all the possible scary things that might happen at a hospital.  Adults are weary of unknowns and so are kids.  Parents can research and ask lots of questions, but kids need some prep too.  Picture books are the perfect way to inform them about what they might see and experience. 

From hospital bracelets to vitals, IVs, scrubs and masks, the more they see in advance, the less scary the experience will feel.   Whether your child has grown up experiencing hospital stays, or faces one big scheduled surgery, I recommend children's books for before, during and after.  They give a voice and vocabulary to the hospital experience.  Siblings will benefit too as they process through their own emotions and fears about what their brother or sister will experience (or has experienced). 

Here are some recommendations:

Curious George Goes to the Hospital

by Margret & H.A. Rey

 

"It's going to hurt, George," she said, "but only for a moment." 

  Franklin Goes to the Hospital

          by Paulette Bourgeois      

             

"Everybody thinks I am brave, but I'm just pretending.  X-rays will show that inside I'm scared."

Dr. Bear replied, "Just because you're afraid doesn't mean you aren't being brave.  Being brave means doing what you have to do, no matter how scared you feel."

Harry Goes to the Hospital

by Howard Bennett

 

Harry's mom cuddled Harry and explained that Dr. Meadows wouldn't give him an IV if he didn't need it.  Dr. Meadows told him the needle part would feel like a sharp pinch, but it would only be in his arm for a few seconds.  The part that stayed in his arm would be a soft plastic tube that let the water go into his body, and it wouldn't hurt at all.

Out and About at the Hospital

by Nancy G. Attebury

 

This is the operating room.  We call it the OR for short.  You can see that it's very clean and bright.  Doctors and nurses who work in the OR wear caps, masks, plastic gloves, special tops and pants, and shoe covers.  Everything is sterile.  We want the OR to be free from germs. 

When Molly Was in the Hospital: A Book for Brothers and Sisters of Hospitalized Children

by Debbie Duncan

 

After a while, Mom and Molly spent more time at the doctor's office than they did at home.  Dad said Molly needed lots of tests.  "Are they like spelling tests?" I asked. 

"No," Dad said, smiling a little.  "They are x-rays, blood tests and things like that."

Little Critter: My Trip to the Hospital

by Mercer Mayer

 

Follow brave Little Critter as he rides in an ambulance, meets the doctor, and gets his first X-ray and his first cast.

 

Usborne First Experiences Going to the Hospital 

by Michelle Bates

 

Ben Bell is not feeling very well. His ear aches as it often does. Mrs Bell takes him to see Doctor Small who checks his ear using an otoscope. He tells Ben that he needs to have an operation at the hospital to make his ear better. On arrival at the hospital Ben's mum helps him to change his clothes and unpack. He is not allowed to eat anything for six hours.
 

The Going to the Hospital Sticker Book

illustrated by Stephen Cartwright gets my highest recommendation. 

 

I LOVE this book and will be buying it for my kids and friends' kids as they approach hospital stays. The illustrations are simple and informative with spaces for stickers of the equipment and other things they might encounter in the hospital.  So fun! 

 

We have had all of these books in our home this week, and all of our kids have been reading them and pointing out things they've seen and experienced.  For us, they've been a great way to retell our hospital experiences.

 

If you have other recommended books, I'd love the suggestions. 

 

Courage, dear hearts.

 

This post is pot one in the Medical Momma Toolkit: A Tips, Tricks and Encouragement Series

 

 

Make Way for Ducklings Par-tay!

When little creative ideas come, what fun it is to say yes!

After reading Make Way for Ducklings, Sophia's little creative juices started flowing with dreams of a book party.

We've had a whole lot of stuff going on, so the girls needed some attention, and some make a big old mess kind of fun.  And a book party?  Yes, please.

We said yes to the party play-date, and invited some pals over for some duck focused good times.   

 Daddio made the welcome sign, and the girls did all the rest. 

Goody bags are top priority, and their's included a duck coloring sheet and some duck-friendly snacks. 

They had a big time covering the house with duck decorations. 

Finally, any good party planner knows that the eats must go with the overall theme, so we came up with snacks that the ducks ate: peanuts, worms and fish!

When our friends came over, we read the book, watched the book being read on DVD, and played a couple crazy rounds of duck, duck, goose in dress-up clothes!

  The little artists learned to draw ducks, ducks

and more ducks.

All the ducklings had a great time, and the little party planner beamed the whole time. 

And Claire's beloved duck has gotten extra lovin' and squeezes ever since. 

Making Butter at Our Little House

We.made.butter. 

Seriously. 

Butter.

My sweet girl and I have been curling up with
some Laura Ingalls Wilder as of late.

The tales of life in the "Big Woods" have captivated us. 

Encounters with bears, wagon rides to town, scary panthers,
sugar snow, fiddle playing and Pa's stories by firelight. 

Four year old Sophia is quite enthralled with four year old Laura. 

When reading that the "Little House" littles made their own butter,

we decided to shake up some of our own.  As in homemade butter.  To our delight, shaking up one cup of cream and 1/4 teaspoon of salt in a mason jar (with some glass stones thrown in) actually creates butter. 

Our yummy, spreadable creation made the best ever buttered toast.   

It is the sweet, simple things of life which are the real ones after all.

~Laura Ingalls Wilder

Our Very Hungry TWO Year Old!

In honor of our girl's second birthday, we had some pals over to celebrate...Hungry Caterpillar style. It was a joy to see her have so much fun.

Sophia smiled from the time she got up until the time she went to bed.
We sampled the Hungry Caterpillar's favorite foods.

The girlies got crafty and made butterflies and apples for the Hungry Caterpillar to munch on.

Most of the time, the girls just giggled, chased and piled on each other!

Mark led the girlies in an impromptu round of "Ring Around the Rosie".

Thank you to our friends and family that brought and mailed blessings and wishes for Sophia. These were a highlight of her party, and will go in her memory box. Thanks also to those who donated books to charity in her name. We can't wait to share with our girl that kids in need got books for her 2nd birthday!

It is hard to believe that our little peanut is two. Her party was much of what we hope for her: close friends (from all over the world: India, China, USA and Ethiopia), fun, faith, dancing, creativity, family, singing, service and silliness.

We love you, Peanut. We are grateful for the gift of you. You, sweet girl, make us better every single day.

The Lord your God is with you,
He is mighty to save.

He will take great delight in you,

He will quiet you with His love,

He will rejoice over you with singing.

~Zephaniah 3:17

A Felt Hungry Caterpillar

We love us some Eric Carle at our house. His books are simple and joyful with lovely illustrations. The Very Hungry Caterpillar is a favorite. This is the first book that our little lady memorized, so it is a super special one. She likes to "read" it aloud all the time by reciting some of the words from each page. This was another idea inspired by this blog. We didn't have pom poms, but we did have a giant stack of felt. I think we'll be felting some companions for this little guy. Afterall, we don't want him to be hungry AND lonely.