If Your Kid Eats This Book, Everything Will Still Be Okay

Recently, I was provided with a copy of If Your Kid Eats This Book, Everything Will Still Be Okay by Dr. Lara Zibners for review. (Actually, the complete title is: If Your Kid Eats This Book, Everything Will Still Be Okay: How to Know if Your Child's Injury or Illness Is Really an Emergency. I know; I like short titles too.) Dr. Zibners is a pediatrician specializing in emergency medicine, and her book is intended to convey her years of experience in the emergency department to parents in the hopes of helping them avoid unnecessary visits to the hospital, panic and anxiety.

The book is logically organized; there is a section for babies that covers many different areas, but then there are complete sections about poisons or allergies for example. It is thoroughly indexed, and is intended to be used more as a reference than to be read cover to cover. There are also small mini-sections within the book, highlighted by a shaded background, with critical information for parents (further identified with headings like Warning or 911 to indicate a need for an emergency department visit).

It is also written is clear, easy to understand language, which is especially important since parents are most likely to consult this book when their child is ill or injured and they are unsure what to do. This is probably the strongest feature of the book.

Overall, I would highly recommend this book. Even though we are not the type of parents to make a quick decision to take one of our children to the hospital, it was still an informative and helpful reference. I would recommend it to anyone, and I personally think it would make an excellent gift for new or expecting parents.