Franklin Goes to the Hospital Paperback – Picture Book, February 1, 2011

This is honestly the best book to prepare your child for a hospital stay/surgery. i am a pediatric nurse at a hospital and a mother. my 2 1/2 yr old recently had to have surgery and an overnight stay at a hospital. i bought a few books to prepare him and after reading the others we completely abandoned them for this one. my son has never seen Franklin before so i can't even use the excuse that he is a "fan" of franklin. this book goes into great detail about what to expect. it is very sweet in that it explains that being a brave patient doesn't mean you aren't scared. my son was so well prepared for his hospital stay that he truly handled it very well. the nurses, surgeon and anesthesiologist even told me that when he got into the OR he was asking questions about the machines. we still read this book because he likes it so much. the only thing i found odd was that it explained that franklin's parents went home at night. i'm not sure how other hospitals work but where i work and where he had surgery both hospitals allow parents to spend the night. but i just explained that i would be with him the entire time and that daddy would be there during the day. i could not give higher reviews for this book. it is by far a very well written book and i plan on recommending this to anyone preparing their child for a hospital stay.

The BEST book to read for a toddler who has to go to the hospital. So incredibly thankful for this book!!!! My 3 year old had to have minor surgery in the hospital, so I bought this book to help prepare him for the big day. Like many other toddlers, he does much better in situations where he knows what is going to happen. We started reading it about 2 weeks before his procedure and he took to it right away. He would pick it out to read at bedtime. He loves Franklin and I think he wanted to know what was going to happen on surgery day. The night before surgery, he actually read me the book-he had it memorized! It has a good amount of text and is very accurate! Surgery day went very well, thanks in large part to this book!Franklin cracked his shell playing soccer. His Mom noticed it at bath time and they had to see the doctor to put a pin in it so he can grow big and strong. The book included content about preparing for the hospital (Franklin reads a book and talks with friends), what happens at the hospital (the doctors wear hats and masks, the doctor takes his temp/blood pressure, x-rays, etc) and how he is feeling (feeling scared, being brave).

A great little book to share with a child that might need to have surgery. I bought it for a child whose brother needed surgery and she was very concerned about him. She had a lot of questions about the whole ordeal and this book helped her with her questions, made her feel a like more at ease

I bought this book for my daughter to help her cope with her upcoming tonsillectomy. The book walks Franklin through his tonsillectomy, which mirrored what she would be going through as well. It was well written and very heartwarming. I highly recommend this book.

My 3 year old needed to have his tonsils and adenoids removed. I bought several children's books including “Franklin goes to the Hospital”. Of the books I bought I found this one to be the best to help me prepare my son for his surgery.I found this book to be age appropriate for a preschooler, and of an appropriate length- the other books I bought were much longer than typical preschool books. While the overall theme of the book is being brave and what that means, it also covers: not eating before surgery, anesthesia, x-rays, needles, hospital bracelets, wheelchairs, waiting rooms, doctor masks and how hospitals look and smell.In the book, Franklin gets injured playing soccer, and needs to have a pin put in his shell so that it will grow properly. The book then goes through the steps before and after surgery.We read this book every night for 3 weeks before my sons surgery. When surgery day came it was very easy to explain who the doctors were, and what was going on and my son seemed less nervous than me.I highly recommend this book to any family of a preschooler, who has to have surgery big or small.

Lovely book explaining the journey sick children take. We read this to my daughter's class when she returned to school after an extended medical absence. It was very helpful to explain her experience to peers. My daughter also loved it when read as preparation for impending hospital stays.

This book is wonderful. It introduces the idea that you can be both brave and scared at the same time. It talks about the different stages of preparing for a hospital stay, arrival, pre-op testing, the operation itself, and what happens after surgery.I bought it to read to my daughter, who was born with a heart defect. She recently needed a procedure at age 3, and I wanted to help prepare her for an experience that might be scary and she might remember. I was looking specifically for a book that was a little more intense than "I broke my arm!" but still appropriate for a toddler. This fits the bill perfectly.Months later, this has become one of her favorite books and provides a good reference for anytime she's a scared, but still brave.

We purchased this for a 4 year old before going into minor surgery. Looking online, we found the best way to prepare a preschooler for something as unknown and scary as surgery is by doing so indirectly. Franklin worked great! The story helped him wrap his head around what surgery is, why it’s needed, and showed him what to expect (down to the masks and gowns). The nurses asked what we did to help him prepare so well. Fortunately, “Franklin goes to the Hospital” came along, and was a bit hit among the staff! Many of the nurses said that they will be recommending it to other young patients in the future.Excellent book, thank you!!!