Imagination in this Creative Read Aloud Picture Book for Young Children Makes a Visit to the Doctor Less Scary

Parents with young children will want to include this fun read aloud picture book in a summer reading list while preparing to visit the doctor for those exams and shots that will be needed for the next school year. Imagination goes a long way when learning to make a visit to the doctor less scary. Maud the Koala is a favorite character that can help young children relate to their life experiences. J. E. Morris writes with humor and presents Maud's visit to the doctor as an opportunity to use imagination to help with the scary feelings that come with a visit to the doctor.

Maud knows that the visit to the doctor will keep her healthy, but the visit is also very scary. She enjoys looking at the colorful fish in the office acquarium while sitting in the waiting room with her mom. Maud is soon called into the examination room and the scary feelings come to the surface. She wishes that she was one of those fish in the acquarium. Maud closes her eyes and her imagination brings her into the world of the fish. She is soon finished with the scary visit to the doctor and receives her sticker from her doctor. Even the shot wasn't so bad while pretending to be one of the fish in the acquarium or the ocean.

Fish Are Not Afraid of the Doctor is written with humor and compassion for yung children who have fears of going to the doctor. The colorful cartoon-like illustrations are filled with the details that young children will relate to during their own visit to the doctor. The note at the end of the book that provides tips for adults to use in helping young children cope with the stress when visiting the doctor will be of special interest to parents, caregivers, and teachers who might use this book in a story time session.

Fish Are Not Afraid of Doctors was published by Penguin/Random House and is recommended for ages 4-9. It has an ISBN of 9781524784430.

Both parents and caregivers of young children will find that fun read aloud picture books are a great way to help children relate to a stressful life experience. Maud the Koala is a delightful character that young readers will easily relate to as she goes for her check-up. I often used picture books with familiar themes such as a visit to the doctor in my early childhood classroom. Children would enjoy the discussions that followed when they had the opportunity to share their experience with other children.

*Read Fish Are Not Afraid of Doctors in a story time session. Call attention to the illustrations that help to tell the story. Talk about the sequence beginning with the illustration of Maud waiting in the reception room at the doctor. Children will want to tell about their own experience in waiting in a doctor's waiting room before their exam.

*What comes next? Talk about the sequence of events after Maud goes into the examination room.

*What does Maud decide to do while she is sitting on the examination table?

*Introduce the concept of imagination. Make a class chart of how children who remember their own visit to the doctor can use their imagination to help with their anxiety.

*Brainstorm with children ideas for coping with anxiety. The tips at the end of the book are very helpful with suggestions about what parents can take to the doctor's office to help with anxiety. How about some bubbles?

*Children might like to draw pictures of their own visit to the doctor with illustrations of things they saw in their doctor's office. Maud liked the acquarium and used her imagination to become a fish in order to help with her stress.