Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews
Maisy Goes to the Hospital
Picture Book Series
For ages 2 to 4
Candlewick Press, 2007 ISBN: 978-0763633776
It is a lovely sunny day and Maisy is bouncing on a trampoline in the garden. Her friend Charlie is watching when Maisy falls down and hurts her leg. Charlie goes with Maisy to the hospital and when they get there the doctor takes an X-ray of Maisy's leg. The X-ray shows that Maisy has broken a bone in her leg. The doctor puts a plaster cast on Maisy's leg and tells her that she has to spend the night in the hospital.
It feels strange being away from home and being away from her friends. Luckily there is another patient called Dotty in the children?s ward and Maisy gets to know her a little. Best of all, Cyril and Tallulah come to visit Maisy the next morning and Maisy shares the gifts that they bring with Dotty. Later that day Maisy is able to go home. She is going to have to use crutches for a few weeks until her cast is taken off.
Going to a hospital for the first time can be frightening and sharing Maisy's experience with her is sure to help a child to feel more comfortable with the whole idea. Lucy Cousins shows her readers what will happen in the hospital, and she is honest enough to show Maisy feeling a little lonely. But, Maisy soon meets someone else who is in the same situation and that helps a lot, as the two little patients get to know one another and make friends.
A comforting story with Lucy Cousins' unforgettable and always delightful paintings makes this a picture book which both children and their parents will enjoy.
