Top positive review
4.0 out of 5 starsCute Book, Positive Message, Not So Good For Preparing Children For Hospital Stays
Reviewed in the United States on February 7, 2017
So, this is a cute Clifford book, but if you are looking at it to prepare your kiddo for a hospital visit, I can't recommend it from that. Aside from the fact that nurses haven't dressed the way the nurse in here is dressed for decades, she uses a mercury thermometer, which good golly, you probably don't want to get me started on, but needless to say, your child is probably never going to encounter one of those in a hospital setting at this point in time. And other then showing a stethoscope and a shot, there really isn't much actually included in this book that a hospital patient is likely to encounter.
Most of the book is devoted to Clifford's mishaps as he sneaks along with Emily Elizabeth and her mom to visit Grandma. And as that sneaking part would suggest, this is a book where he is still a teeny, tiny puppy (the runt of his litter), and he wasn't supposed to be there. And being that this is a Clifford book, he does cause a few problems along the way, but goes on in the end to turn that into something beautiful and positive, as Clifford when he's bigger goes to the hospital to cheer people up. Which is why I still recommend this book. I think it is a great message for any child to internalize who is struggling to pull things off the way they want to, or even the way they see other kids doing because of their size or abilities, that they can go on to make positive contributions. It's especially important for children like my son, who lives in a world that because of his disabilities finds a way to tell him nearly every day it doesn't have a place for him. But I believe there is a place for him, just like Clifford finds there is a place for him despite his own gargantuan size.
