Joey Panda and His Food Allergies Save the Day: A Children's Book

by Amishi S. Murthy MD, Vivian Chou, Joseph Cannon (Illustrations)

This charming book was written by board-certified allergists who saw the need for educating and empowering young children with food allergies. Joey Panda has multiple food allergies (peanut, tree nut, milk, soy, egg, wheat, fish, and shellfish) and is nervous about his first day of school. How will he stay safe? With Eppy (his epinephrine auto-injector) by his side, Joey learns how to have fun at school and saves the day!

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 30, 2013

Reviews

[Sarah S · Rating 4 out of 5]

Joey Panda has many food allergies. Like every kid starting school, he's worried about making friends. What is different is he's also worried about staying safe--he's allergic to all of the "Big 8" allergens. He feels safer because he has Eppy (the super EpiPen, complete with cape)with him.

The kids he meets turn out to be cool with it. Chris Frog tells Joey his big brother has allergies, too. One child offers to share her sandwich with Joey. He explains why he can't have it, and she asks if they can be still be friends. When the class builds something out of macaroni, their teacher has safe alternatives ready for Joey to use.

"Issue" books can be tedious, annoying, and/or trite. This one is just fine. The artwork is attractive and certainly will appeal to kids.

My only quibble is that Eppy looks a little like Mr. Butts from Doonesbury. The kids won't notice it, but it made me titter.