HealthyBooks will continue to be online and available to users, although not updated. Read more…
Medikidz explain Acquired Brain Injury: What's Up with Tamara? ISBN: 9781906935153
Chilman-Blair, Kim Dr. and Deloache, Shawn
Published by Medikidz Publishing, 2014
In this series of comics about health conditions and illnesses, the 'Medikidz' are a team of five superheroes who live in an alternative planet called 'Mediland', a place which is shaped like the human body. The team is made up of Axon, the brain specialist (and his pet robot Abacus, the brain on legs), Chi, the lung specialist, Skinderella, who knows all about skin and bones, Pump, the heart and blood expert, and Gastro, the expert on the digestive system (who is the joker and fart specialist!). The series is aimed precisely at kids, and the information therein is given in language that is easily understood; not only that, but because of the highly-coloured comic format, children will want to read it. The books are clever and funny and put lots of excellent, detailed information into an accessible read. Furthermore, the medical information, written by doctors, is peer reviewed by experts in the field. In this story, we meet Tamara, who has an Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) due to a serious brain bleed, and she is having problems in class as well as with tiredness. Her friend, Jessica, is insensitive to her problems and doesn't understand why Tamara can't run properly any more. When the Medikidz beam the two girls into Mediland, they begin to learn just why Tamara is the way she is. They visit the four brain lobes, the frontal, the temporal, the parietal, and the occipital and learn about their various functions. Then something dreadful happens. Mediland is hit in the head by a meteor, and acquires its own ABI. The superheroes rush about controlling the brain swelling, but in the end they explain that sometimes not everything can be corrected, and this leads to damage in some or all of the lobes. The possible different kinds of damage are explained: tiredness, hearing or sight problems, balance difficulties, emotional and behavioural problems, focusing and learning difficulties. Tamara recognises some of these problems as hers, and Jessica learns to be sensitive to her friend. When they are beamed back to earth, Jessica is able to explain to their other friends just why they need to be supportive. The book is available free of charge except for postage from: The Children's Trust, Tadworth Court, Tadworth, Surrey, KT20 5RU or their website: www.thechildrenstrust.org.uk/books.
Age: 10+