Fish Are Not Afraid of Doctors

March 1, 2018

Gr 1-3-Maud, a young koala, goes to the doctor for a checkup in this appealing new reader series. While in the waiting room, Maud admires the fish in a large tank and when it's her time to go to the exam room, she tries hiding behind the tank in order not to be seen. In the doctor's office, Maud is declared healthy, but needs a vaccination. After asking "what's a vax-i-nay-shun?" she again wishes she was a fish so that she could avoid the shot. She begins to daydream that she has fins and scales and is under the sea meeting turtles, octopuses, and whales and blowing lots of bubbles. She's called out of her reverie and finds that the vaccination has already happened and her visit is over. When her mom calls her brave, Maud quickly responds that it's because "fish are not afraid of doctors." The story uses a variety of methods to tell the story-comic panels, dialogue, word bubbles, and some wordless images-and there's an engaging plot that readers will relate to. There are perhaps a few new vocabulary words but context clues in the illustrations and the doctor's explanation make them understandable. The printmaking-style illustrations are softly colored and textured (note the turtle wallpaper) and have a cartoonlike style that will likely appeal. VERDICT Young readers will connect with Maud and will look forward to her next outing. A solid purchase for libraries.-Mary Kuehner, Arapahoe Library District, CO

Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 15, 2018
Checkups can make anyone anxious; Maud the koala models how to use visualization to alleviate normal fears at the doctor's office. Like many doctors' waiting rooms, this one is furnished with an aquarium. First Maud just hides behind it. When that doesn't get her out of her checkup, she pretends she is a fish, swimming in the sea, to distract herself from her shot. No surprise, she doesn't even feel the needle. Maud and her mother are cartoonish koalas. Dr. Susan is another animal, perhaps an opossum, while the female receptionist is a bunny. Narrative text across the top of comic-strip panels describes the waiting room and the actual medical exam. Maud's fantasy breaks out to occupy full-bleed, double-page spreads. A "Note to Caregivers" on the final page explains a bit more about visualization techniques and claims "Studies have shown that children who have been distracted by blowing bubbles during injections have reported less pain." Beginning readers have probably already had most of their vaccinations, but the reminder of these coping techniques could prove useful. Maud seems to be an extremely anxious koala. In Much Too Much Birthday (published simultaneously), Maud uses similar strategies to cope when she feels overwhelmed. The stories are purposive, their bibliotherapeutic missions clear, but Maud is an appealing character.Useful in physicians' offices and early-childhood classrooms and for children whose nerves might be a bit jangly. (Early reader. 4-8)

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March 15, 2018
Preschool-G Maud the Koala has a knack for disappearing at the doctor's office. When her name is called in the waiting area, she slips behind the aquarium. Later, while Dr. Susan prepares to give her a vaccination, she hides beneath the table. Quickly found, Maud is soon daydreaming about underwater adventures and surprised that she didn't even feel the teeny, tiny little shot she'd been dreading. Maud is a sympathetic character in a simply told story. Well-structured and appealing, the digital illustrations include full-page pictures as well as smaller, comic-style elements such as pictures in panels and speech balloons. Imagination becomes a powerful tool in this beginning reader book from Morris' new Maud the Koala series, which will include Much Too Much Birthday, to be published simultaneously.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)