Have you ever had your child sick with a really bad cold and have them ask you questions about why they feel the way they do and what causes them to feel that way? Sometimes we have the answers we can tell them in a way they can understand, sometimes we might have a harder time explaining things.
There is a wonderful series of books by Charlotte Cowan, M.D. called Dr. Hippo Stories which explain everyday illnesses to children in delightful stories that are fun to read while at the same time educating children on the reasons why they feel sick.
The story titles are absolutely adorable too… except one of them might leave people going “Ewww…gross!”. The titles include…
The Little Elephant with the Big Earache.
Katie Caught a Cold
Sadie’s Sore Throat
Peeper Has A Fever
And the one that has everyone going “Ewww” is The Moose with Loose Poops. And yes, it’s a story about a little moose boy with an upset tummy. His mom takes care of him and he starts to feel better but then he experiences diarrhea. Before you pass judgement on the book or the title of the book think about it for a moment. Most all kids experience diarrhea at one point or another. So why not let them read a book that explains the reasons why they are experiencing it and let’s them know that it’s OK and they will feel better. Plus you know kids, they like gross things too. Ha Ha. To be honest with you when I got the books that was the first book both my kids wanted to read. That one is their favorite. I think it’s because the title is so silly but that is fine because they both know that having diarrhea is OK.
Peeper Has a Fever is the story of an adorable little frog, Peeper, who is all excited about a special picnic his family was planning, but poor little Peeper started to get sick with a fever. Even though he kept telling everyone he felt OK he really didn’t. He just didn’t want to miss out on all the fun. I’m sure many kids (and adults) can relate to that.
In the sweet story of Sadie’s Sore Throat, Sadie the Giraffe gets a sore throat and her mom takes her to see Dr. Hippo. I love how this book shows Dr. Hippo examining Sadie in a way that children can understand. Dr. Hippo explains to Sadie how he has to listen to her heart and lungs and look into her ears and mouth. He even has to give Sadie a test for a Strep throat and Dr. Hippo explains it to Sadie in a way that a child reading the book can understand.
Katie Has A Cold is about a little bear name Katie. Coincidentally the story is written during the winter season, when colds seem to be at their worst. When Katie gets concerned that she is blowing green stuff from her nose her mom assures her that everything is fine. As a mom myself I know all about kids with runny noses.
The Little Elephant with the Big Earache is a story about, of course, a little elephant who has a painful earache. Oh goodness… my daughter was the “Queen of Earaches” when she was little. It seemed like she had one every other week. Thankfully both of my children outgrew the earache phase.
I LOVE the little elephants in this book. They are so cute! Eddie the elephant also gets to pay a visit to Dr. Hippo’s office. I love Dr. Hippo! I wish he was my doctor. LOL!
All the books can be read quickly by a young child, or better yet, a parent could read them to their child too. Chances are if your little one is sick the last thing they would want to do is read. I’m sure they would appreciate Mom or Dad reading to them.
The artwork in the books is so sweet. The characters are adorable. Each page is filled with colorful, cheerful images. Even though the books talk about sickness the drawing are very “happy” and fun.
One of the best features about these books is that in the back of each of the books is a little pocket. Inside the pocket is information for parents. The information booklet is made of very sturdy material too. For example in the book about earaches the parent information in the back pocket is of course about earaches and what causes them and what parents can do. So in essence the Dr. Hippo series of book are a lot like reference books for parents and educational books for children.
I adore these books! They are adorable stories and I found myself learning about common child ailments.