Children's Books that Support Injured Children
* This image uses the old name for the is ‘Is There a Book for That?’ blog/book list.
For the 4th week of July, the month that I am dedicating to books for the ER, I am focusing on books about injuries including cuts and bruises. I also included a meditation book that can help kids by distraction and imagining other sensations. You will notice for the first time, half of these books are located on a free app. A hospital or urgent care staff person could tell a parent to download the app, and they would have these short stories available almost immediately. Such a great resource! Anyway, read below about this weeks titles:
Cricket’s Big Fall by Gooshi World App
This e-book is free and is available on the Gooshi World free app. This story talks about a girl who falls and gets a cast. While it doesn’t cover a lot of the details about getting cast, it does talk about how the cast feels and what it does. It could be helpful for young children before or after a cast, (ages 2-8).
Cricket’s Medicine by Gooshi World App
This e-book is free and is available on the Gooshi World free app. This story talks about Cricket who has an ear infection. She needs to take medicine to feel better, but she doesn’t like the taste. This simple story reinforces that the medicine isn’t her favorite thing, but that it is important to help her body. It suggests coping by washing it down with something that tastes better. This could be helpful when sending home a patient who needs to be medicine compliant, especially young children (ages 2-8).
Nico Gets Stitches by Gooshie World App
This e-book is free and is available on the Gooshi World free app. This book tells the story of Nico who falls at the park and cuts open his leg. He talks about what it feels like and what he sees and hears in the waiting room. Then the doctor decides that he needs stitches. The book does a nice job of giving honest simple information, including numbing cream, a small needle and the sewing string. The book reinforces the feelings of being proud after doing hard things and learning about things before doing something new. This book would be good for kids that benefit from preparation before a procedure or reviewing what happened after a procedure. Great for elementary school kids and some preschoolers.
Read more about these free resources here: https://gooshi.world and consider adding the app to your phone!
Lumos Keeps Calm:Dealing with Cuts and Stitches by Pat McCaw
This is a children’s chapter book that tells a story of a day with Lumos, a hospital’s pet therapy dog. The dog moves around the hospital with a child life specialist and the book tells about a few patients that they see that day. The focus in this book is Lumos’ interaction with a child with a cut who ultimately needs stitches. Lumos helps the child feel more comfortable with numbing cream and the stitching process. Good simple worded medical information in partnership with a story that kids will connect with. One might wonder if a chapter book is the right thing for an ER, but actually when you go to the ER, a lot of the time you spend a lot of time waiting. If an ER had this book on hand, I could see a parent reading it out loud to their child (ages preschool - upper elementary) as a form of distraction and preparation combined. Also available as an audio book.
https://amzn.to/47U1eFJ
All About Cuts and Bruises by Francesca Potts
This factual book is about injuries including common causes and treatments. Kids may find this book helpful in describing how they feel or in understanding what their body is doing. Simply written in words that kids can understand, best for young children- middle elementary.
https://amzn.to/4sP1kGC
Imagine a Rainbow by Brenda Miles PhD
This book helps children imagine feeling different sensations like warm rain and a soft puppy. When a child needs pain meds, sometimes it can take some time to get it order and deliver and once delivered, it can take time to work. After acknowledging to the child that they will get medicine and that everyone hears that they are hurting, an adult could offer reading this book as a way that the child could help relax themselves which will also help with the pain. This book would be good for preschool through middle school.
https://amzn.to/4cSGLoj
I hope you find these helpful and keep following next week when I add several fun distraction to help lessen anxiety and pass time in the ER!
