Welcome to the Children’s Book Review Series by Multiple Allergy Family!
We are looking at several books that are relevant to children with food allergies or sensitivities. This way you don’t have to drop a ton of money or order every single book in your public library’s system in order to find the one, two, or even several, that are perfect for your kids. Whether you’re a parent, guardian, relative, teacher, nurse, or you have food allergies, yourself, you can use our guides to find the book that’s right for the job.
Why would I want to use one of these books? Even if allergies do not affect you, 1 in 13 children have a food allergy. This means almost everyone knows a child or adult with food allergies. Moreover, and just as important, these books are another way to help us increase our understanding of others and learn how we can help our friends.
Children are especially vulnerable to allergic reactions for many reasons. These include a lack of knowledge, an overtrust of well-intentioned others that may unknowingly offer unsafe foods, a lack of vigilance, and an inability to recognize and notify loved ones of allergy symptoms. All of these keep us allergy families up at night (and so vigilant while outside the home).
I started reading these books to my children as another way I can help them learn to keep themselves and their friends safe. And it has helped. Our oldest has become so much more aware and has picked up skills that may save (or have saved) his life. That’s when we decided to share the books we found through our Children’s Book Review Series.
If you know of any books we should cover please let us know! We want to support our allergy families and the books that help all kids grow their knowledge, awareness, and empathy.
Our Book Review Criteria
We decided to judge all our books on a few categories: the targeted age group and how informative the book was. We also judged the books on entertainment factors because, let’s face it, that’s also important.
So let’s get going with the reviews!
We’re starting off with one of the most popular allergy-related Children’s books. You’ll soon see why it is a big favorite.
Nutley the Nut-Free Squirrel by Stephanie Sorken, Illustrated by Tim Warren
Targeted age group: Preschoolers, Elementary Schoolers
Summary:
A Nut-Allergic Squirrel named Nutley is the main character of this book. The story has a cute and light rhyme. He explains he is allergic to nuts and experienced swelling and hives in a prior reaction. His doctor told him he should avoid nuts, and that he has to take a test annually or biannually. He calls his friends together for a meeting to come up with a plan, and there he learns he is not alone. Many of his friends have different allergies such as to bones, fruit, pollen, and fish. They talk about what they like to eat, and they all come together and eat nut-free treats because they love him. (I would like to know if they avoid the other allergens, too?) Cute book.
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Book Review:
The illustrations were adorable and contributed to the reading experience. The story was cute, and the rhyme definitely contributed to that children’s book feel.
I like that the book represents multiple kinds of allergies and reactions and that it mentions allergy tests as one of the ways to help keep friends with allergies safe. I could also see how the story might reinforce the inaccuracy that only people with nut allergies can be contact-reactive. In keeping it light, the book didn’t mention the severity of reactions or that there are medications often used with allergies to keep kids safe. Yet I understand how a children’s book can’t teach every food allergy/sensitivity fact, and I certainly understand the appeal of a pretty informative book that avoids some of the scarier parts of allergic reactions. Our oldest asked to read this one over and over. Child-approved!
Ultimately Nutley the Nut-Free Squirrel is a great book if you want a cute introduction to allergies with a really sweet story. We could easily see why this is one of the favorite reads among allergy families. It’s fairly informative and so sweet! It was one of our favorites, too! We also appreciate how the proceeds benefit F.A.R.E. (Food Allergy Research and Education). Pair with further reading or information as appropriate for a more complete understanding of food allergies. Great book!
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