Your Child Goes to the Hospital: A Book for Parents.

The preface of this book states that its purpose is to "prepare both parent and child for hospitalization and to offer a guide to professionals counseling parents whose child must go to the hospital." The authors are educators from the Special Education Department of the State College of Arkansas.

Although this book contains much useful information, its basic problem is clearly stated in the purpose. It is aimed at too diverse an audience and ends up being inappropriate for both. For parents, there is more here about hospitals than most would care to know.

There are some good descriptions of hospital organization and jobs of various staff members. Other useful information is provided about meeting the emotional needs of hospitalized children such as in the following: giving a brief explanation of what will take place prior to entry, having the parents accompany the child through admission procedures and getting settled