Someone I Love Is in the Hospital
Grandpa's In the Hospital
by
Book Cover & Preview Text
"It's going to be a great day!" Jonathan Bell said when he woke up Saturday morning. He could hardly stand the excitement. And he had a lot of reasons to feel this way. Summer vacation had just begun. Today he was going see his grandpa. Tonight his dad was coming home from a business trip. And tomorrow would be Jonathan's eighth birthday.
The boy jumped out of bed. He looked out his window. His
neighbor Edie Cavell was hanging laundry on her clothesline.
Edie is the first person Jonathan's mom calls when her son gets
sick or hurt. This neighbor is a nurse as well as a close friend.
Edie smiled and waved. The wind puffed up several of her nurse
uniforms. They swung on the line like invisible people were
inside.
The bed sheets filled with wind. They reminded Jonathan of the sails of The Banana Fish. His grandpa and uncles gave this nickname to their bright yellow sailboat. Other boaters kidded them about the color. "It looks like a big banana cutting across the water," people said. The Eva May was still painted on the back. That's what the old owners had named it.
Grandpa promised to take Jonathan out on The Banana Fish on
the first summer day with good sailing weather. Jonathan's
happiness soared because today looked like that kind of day!
Later that morning, Jonathan's dad called long distance to say he couldn't be home for the birthday celebration. "We'll do something before you go to Hawaii with your grandparents on Thursday. O.K.?" Dad asked.
"O.K.," Jonathan agreed out loud. But inside, he felt disappointed. Then he pictured his grandpa with him on The Banana Fish and smiled.
That afternoon, Jonathan's mom dropped him off at his grandparents' house. "Today is still going to be a very good day. That's because Grandpa and I are going sailing!" Jonathan told his mom. The boy hopped out of the car in a hurry.
A moment later, he hugged his grandfather tightly. Schooner, Grandpa's Golden Retriever, greeted Jonathan. As he patted the dog, Jonathan asked, "We're going out on The Banana Fish, right?"
"Sure, after we get back from Hawaii," Grandpa answered.
"But you said—" pleaded Jonathan.
"Have you forgotten that you, your grandma and I are taking a cruise liner to Hawaii on Thursday? I have a lot to do before then. Install sprinklers in the vegetable garden, mow the lawn, and keep the squirrels away from the fruit—to name a few. We will be on the cruise liner for 10 days. That's plenty of time at sea, don't you think?"
"But it's not the same!" Jonathan declared.
The boy wanted to say: It's not the same because it won't be you and me guiding the boat. And we won't feel the waves and the wind as we turn about.
Instead he cried, "But you promised!"
"Jonathan, I'm sorry," his grandfather said. "We'll have all summer for The Banana Fish. Today it will be just you and me until your grandma gets back from clothes shopping. You can be my helper, O.K.?"
He considered his grandfather's words. "It will still be a good day if we can do stuff together," Jonathan decided. He hugged his grandpa.
After a while, Jonathan began to wonder if he was going to have any fun at all. Everything he tried to do seemed to turn out wrong. Jonathan tried hard to push the wheelbarrow of grass clippings on a straight path. But the wheelbarrow kept swerving off to the side. He kept trying until it tipped over. Grass clippings spilled everywhere.
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Book Details
About the Book
Children's, Parenting, Health
How Would You Feel If a Close Relative Got Sick and Had to Go to the Hospital?
With this book, you can help a child cope with such family illnesses.
Jonathan feels guilty and afraid. Hurt because his grandfather couldn't spend more time with him, the boy lashed out at Grandpa with mean words. That night, Jonathan learned that the grandfather had suddenly become very sick. Jonathan and his mom then traveled to the city to wait for news about the grandfather's emergency surgery.
So begins Jonathan's journey into the "no-kid's land" of the hospital. Where a child can't yell, play or run. Where the television is always on—but often without sound. And worried adults seem not to notice their kids, except to say "everything in OK." But children can tell otherwise.
Jonathan can only guess what is really happening with Grandpa and why. Did his angry words make Grandpa sick? Will he ever get the chance to say "I'm sorry" or "I love you, Grandpa" again?
Jonathan's neighbor, a nurse, finds the boy lost in a hospital hallway. With her help, Jonathan finds the way back to his mom and a better understanding of illness, surgery and what he can except while Grandpa is healing.
Esther Pearlman's illustrations bring the hospital experience to life from a kid's point of view, featuring scenes a child with an ill relative will identify with. Pearlman's sketches and observations of her grandchild during her husband's recuperation from surgery formed the basis for this collaboration with writer Melody Girard.
Any Parent Who Has Had a Loved One in the Hospital
Knows the Value of Explaining this Experience to a Child
Esther's Pearls Publishing
Santa Monica, California
About the Author
Esther Pearlman
Artist/Author
Like a cinematographer, artist Esther Pearlman puts the viewer in the main character's line of vision. This particular book presents freeze-frames of the hospital experience from a child's viewpoint. Pearlman dares to depict situations that other illustrators may shy away from. Doubtless, her freeze-frame style arises from both living in the milieu of her native Los Angeles and her bachelor's degree in film arts.
Pearlman's pens and sketchbook accompany her everywhere. She can be seen intently sketching everyone from a long-winded guest speaker talking about the book market, to a fellow traveler on a Canadian train, to individuals in a hospital waiting area, to her husband in a hospital bed after surgery.
A sensitive observer of her surroundings, Pearlman delights in life's paradoxes and contradictions. She confesses to embracing numerous contradictions within herself. Though she works hard at building a serious art career, Pearlman derives her greatest satisfaction from making people laugh. She admires the formal elegance of Asian art—an influence evident in some of her paintings—yet she loves casual, abstract forms.
Pearlman expresses her penchant for entertaining people in such diverse endeavors as performing stand-up comedy, singing in the Verde Opera Chorus, and writing and illustrating adult and children's books.
The artist/author has exhibited her paintings and drawings in
numerousl invitational and juried shows. Her work has been
selected for silent auctions for charitable organizations, including
the City of Hope. Pearlman continues to cook up ways to amuse
her audience, including her husband, their three children and the
grandchildren—from her studio in Masr Vista, California, and
her home in Santa Monica.
Melody Girard
Co-Author
Melody Girard did not initially choose writing as a career. Rather, regardless of her job title, writing chose her. She attributes her communication sensibilities to a childhood infused with "fireside" poetry and British Isle folk lyrics. (With songs from Big Band Era greats, such as Glen Miller and Cab Callaway, tossed in for good measure.)
"Friends say I cut my teeth on poetry. My siblings and I spent much of our early years listening to my mother singing and reciting poetry—which she delivered dramatically. My mother's housecleaning forays often took a hiatus when the dust cloth touched the spines of her favorite poetry books. Seated around her, we called out 'special requests." Robert Burns (recited in Scottish dialect), Longfellow and Robert Louis Stevenson's Child's Garden of Verse were some of our childhood favorites."
After completing her studies in Renaissance English Literature, Girard embarked on a career that has ranged from writing on social issues of Native American tribes to humor and children's verse. From her home in Santa Monica, California, Girard continues to apply her pen and unique sensibilities to a broad range of subjects and genres. Girard has also collaborated with Pearlman on the adult humor book, Oh Canada! Lessons in Patience in the Canadian Rockies, and the kids' title, The Children's Question Book.