More Children's Books for a Stay in the Hospital

* This images shows the old name for the ‘Is There a Book for That?’ blog/book list.

Today, I am sharing a few more resources for kids about the hospital. They could be helpful and relatable for kids in the hospital, good for kids that are preparing to stay/visit the hospital or just be good for kids interested in hospitals. The first two are more general, covering many aspects of hospital and the different things that happen inside them. The last three have more specific focuses (the burn unit, visiting the ICU, and pet therapy). Read below to learn more about each of them.

Hospital Friends by Mike Berenstain
This book is probably one of the oldest on the whole list.  A lot of the older books don’t make it on the list because so many parts of healthcare have changed. Most of the concepts hold up in this one except - when a doctor takes them on a tour of the hospital, they walk into all of the units and there are lots of patients all together.  As an adult, you might want to clarify that patients often have their own rooms and wouldn’t spend time together if they were contagious.  I would use it more as a story to reinforce that hospitals are big places that offer lots of different types of care, but in general, the people at the hospital aren’t bad or scary, they are there to help. (good for kids in early to middle elementary)
https://amzn.to/4aEKm8c

Hospital Heroes Save the Day by R.W. Alley
I’m so excited that I stumbled upon this new book.  The book is similar to Richard Scarry books, as there are lots of different details (both fun and educational) that you can read in addition to the general storyline.  The book does a nice job describing a lot of parts of health care and various reasons for admission.  The book brings up lots of hospital careers (including a child life specialist) and the author took care to check with hospital experts to make sure the details are correct. (would be good for preschool through upper elementary)
https://amzn.to/3KWzSqh

A book for the burn unit:
Keisha Learns to Roar by Ruthie Charendoff
A sweet book that takes the reader through Keisha’s experience on the burn unit. The story describes different parts of her experience including arriving at the hospital and leaving the hospital.  It touches on details such as bandages, IVs, and helpers at the hospital. Throughout the book, the story touches on coping with big feelings and using breaths to cope with pain. If your hospital has a burn unit or your ER transfers kids to a burn unit, I can see it being very helpful. This is another title written by a child life specialist. (This book is written for younger children, probably preschool through middle elementary)
https://amzn.to/48LLVOX

A book that helps adults explain different aspects of the ICU:
All About the Intensive Care Unit: How to Prepare Kids for an ICU Visit
by Alexandria Friesen and Morgan Livingstone 
If you have a child that will visit or has visited the ICU and has tons of questions about every tube, wire, and person, this is the book for you.  This book is filled with a LOT of information. An adult will likely need to clarify which tubes or tests apply to their person, but all of the gentle honest explanations are there.  If you have a child that is more hesitant and might get more nervous with lots of information, it could be helpful to just use individual pages, have them say when they want to skip a page, or use it as an adult so that you have ways to answer the questions they do have. This book was written by two child life specialists and so the explanations are very well written.  (This book would be good for middle to upper elementary, unless you have especially curious younger child)
https://amzn.to/4q0hqvE

A heart-warming story about pet therapy:
A Hospital Dog by Julia Anderson
This is a sweet story about a pet therapy dog who visits the hospital.  It mentions many patients who aren’t having the best day for lots of different reasons and how the dog brightens their day.  Then at the end, the dog gets injured and the patients return the favor.  This story is sweet and relatable.  I could see that it could be a good way to start a conversation about what can brighten your day if time at the hospital is rough. If I did pet therapy, I would carry it with me and read it to the child while they snuggle up with the pup! (Good for very young through upper elementary)
https://amzn.to/48zVHVS