Picture Books About Illness

Check out these books if you're looking for a way to help talk to your child about illnesses, both serious and more common.

Updated June 14, 2024
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The perfect shelter
Welsh, Clare Helen
Paper Book
A story about sisters. A story about love. A story about how it feels when someone close to you has cancer. When the author's uncle was diagnosed with cancer, she wrote this text for her children, to help them name and explore the complicated feelings borne of heartbreaking situations.
Cloud babies
Colfer, Eoin
Paper Book
Eoin Colfer, New York Times best-selling author of the Artemis Fowl series, pens a warm, empathy-building story based on illustrator Chris Judge's family's experience with childhood illness. Six-year-old Erin's favorite game is spotting animals in the clouds with her mom...
Abuela's super capa
Siqueira, Ana
Paper Book
A heartwarming bilingual picture book about a young boy who learns to accept that Abuela needs to retire her super capa.  Saturdays are superhero days. Equipped with their milkshakes and capas, Luis and his abuela can turn anything into an adventure. But when Abuela gets sick,...
Franklin goes to the hospital
Bourgeois, Paulette.
Paper Book
Franklin is every young child's friend. He faces problems that are familiar to three to eight year olds -- such as fear of the dark, going to school and making new friends -- and solves them all by himself.
Surgery on Sunday
Harrison, Kat
Paper Book
Written with spunk, humor, and a lot of love, Surgery on Sunday teaches kids they can be brave, even when it's hard. Sunday, a kid with an ocean-sized imagination, is nervous about her upcoming ear surgery. Mom and Dad tell her to put on a brave face, but how can she when she has so many...
Little Miss Goes to Surgery!
Basora, Erica
Looking for a way to ease your child's fears before surgery? Look no further than Little Miss Goes to Surgery. Surgery is a scary word for kids and parents alike. It's natural for kids to feel scared about surgery. They may not understand what's happening or...
Sick Simon
Krall, Dan
Paper Book
Are germs gross, or great? Sick Simon learns how to be health-conscious during cold and flu season in this clever picture book from the author-illustrator of The Great Lollipop Caper. Simon is going to have the best week ever. Who cares if he has a cold? He goes to school...
Bear feels sick
Wilson, Karma.
Paper Book
The sixth installment of Karma Wilson's award-winning, New York Times bestselling series about a Bear and his forest friends. Autumn has come to the woods, and Bear doesn't feel well. He sniffles and sneezes. He cannot sleep. He aches all over. Worst of all, he's feeling...
Dragons get colds too
Roan, Rebecca
Paper Book
For fans of Dragons Love Tacos comes a fresh, funny story that deals with everyone's least favorite thing: a cold. Is your dragon sleepy? Does he have a runny nose? Does he keep sneezing fire? Unfortunately, it sounds like your dragon has a cold. But luckily, this guide...
Another way to climb a tree
Scanlon, Elizabeth Garton
Paper Book
When Lulu's feeling well, she climbs every tree in sight, especially the tallest ones, the ones with the widest branches, the ones with the stickiest sap. But when Lulu's sick, she's not allowed outside. She wonders if the trees are lonely without her. Maybe the...
Bob, not Bob!
Scanlon, Elizabeth Garton
Paper Book
Little Louie is stuck in bed with a bad cold. His nose is clogged, his ears are crackling, and his brain feels full. All he wants is his mom to take care of him, but whenever he calls out for her, his stuffed-up nose summons slobbery dog Bob instead! As Louie tries and tries to make himself...

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