Introduction
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.20361/G2HW3DAbstract
This special issue of the Deakin Review of Children’s Literature is dedicated to health fiction. The concept for the special issue grew out of an interest in using fiction as a tool in health literacy and healing. Many of us have had the experience of escaping in to a book as a place of refuge when the real world seems too tough or being moved and inspired by a story about someone coping with illness, injury, or disability. We wondered whether or not fictional works that offer children similar benefits are readily available? The answer is ‘Yes’, to a large extent. But as we started to read our way through the books in local libraries, we realized that a number of the books may be of questionable benefit. Many had flaws, from obvious content errors to subtle issues that you might not recognize unless you read the book closely or someone brought them to your attention.
We wanted to take the opportunity to use this issue of Deakin to showcase some of the high quality fiction that we would recommend to libraries and parents. The authors of the reviews are librarians or other information professionals, with strengths in children's literature, health librarianship, or both. Many have children. Most are experienced reviewers. Even though we had done some pre-screening, several of the reviewers started reviews and then discarded them when they found that upon close examination, they could not recommend the books.
The accompanying article describes the larger study that we undertook to thoroughly review current children's health fiction. The end products of this research were: 1) a checklist for selection of children's health fiction; 2) a list of readily available works in the area; 3) this special theme issue of the Deakin, and; 4) a joint exhibit of the reviewed books, at the University of Alberta’s Education and Health Sciences libraries, to complement the publication of this issue.
In addition to the outcomes mentioned above, it is our hope that an additional benefit of this project will be an increased community awareness of the value of children’s health fiction and the knowledge that sometimes a good story is good medicine.
Sandy Campbell and Maria Tan
Sandy is a Health Sciences Librarian at the University of Alberta, who has written hundreds of book reviews across many disciplines. Sandy thinks that sharing books with children is one of the greatest gifts anyone can give.
Maria C. Tan is a medical librarian at the Abdul Khaliq Library in Alberta Health Services’ Cross Cancer Institute and a former editorial team member of the Deakin Review. She firmly believes that children's literature is an essential component in the fountain of youth.
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).