In A Pickle Over PANDAS

by Melanie S. Weiss

This book is about a young boy’s journey with a harrowing illness called PANDAS, an acronym for Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorder Associated with Streptococcus. He wakes up one morning, and overnight, is stricken with unusual and frightening symptoms that turn his world upside down. Some of the symptoms he experiences are anxiety & OCD. This happened all because an autoimmune response caused dysfunctional antibodies to invade the basal ganglia of the brain instead of fighting off the streptococcus bacteria. The boy has never even heard of PANDAS. After a long road, filled with doctor visits, blood draws, procedures & surgery, he is finally on the road to recovery. In time, he is able to forget about this harrowing illness. Then, the only PANDAS he knows of are the black and white bears at the zoo. www.PANDAS-DISORDER.comAbout the author - Melanie S. Weiss, RNC-MNN, BSN has been a registered nurse for thirty years, certified in maternal-newborn nursing. Her goals in writing this book were to explain a frightening illness to the children afflicted with it, in an informative but non-frightening way, and to raise awareness about the disorder. She is also the author of the article, “The Pandemonium of PANDAS.” Melanie lives in Long Island, NY with her husband and three sons and is an employee of the North Shore LIJ Health System. Keywords - PANDAS, PANS, Pediatric, Autoimmune, Neurological, Disorder, Streptococcus, Anxiety, OCD, Antibiotic.In Limbo Over Lyme Disease--Finalist Medal - 2021 Next Generation Indie Book Award (E-Book Non-Fiction)In A Pickle Over Pandas--Silver Medal - 2016 Living Now Book Award (Children's Non-Fiction)--Bronze Medal - 2016 eLit Electronic Book Award (Health/Medicine/Nutrition)--Finalist Medal - 2016 Next Generation Indie Book Award (Children's/Juvenile Non-Fiction)--Finalist - 2016 Tenth Annual National Indie Excellence Book Award (Medical)--Finalist - 2016 Readers' Favorite International Book Award (Children's Educational)--Five Stars - 2016 Readers' Favorite Book Reviews **Spanish eBook version available**

Genres: Nonfiction, Childrens

42 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 1, 2015

About the author

Melanie S. Weiss, RNC-MNN, BSN has been a registered nurse for thirty years, certified in maternal-newborn nursing. Her goals in writing this book were to explain a frightening illness to the children afflicted with it, in an informative but non-frightening way, and to raise awareness about the disorder. She is also the author of the article, “The Pandemonium of PANDAS.” Melanie lives in Long Island, NY with her husband and three sons and is an employee of the North Shore LIJ Health System.

Reviews

[❀Aimee❀ Just one more page... · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this book, children (and their parents) learn about PANDAS disorder. It is an often undiagnosed/misdiagnosed disorder that starts like so many other common childhood illnesses. The little boy in the book describes what happened and how he felt throughout the illness, finally getting diagnosed, and working through treatment (that can take a lot of time if not caught early).

Children and families that are dealing with PANDAS will be thankful to have this resource for education and for helping the child understand that other kids have been through it before too.

There are a lot of medical words that are explained as you read. I am a nurse and I recognize the value of this type of education. I would suggest that the author consider making another version of this book that is simplified even further. While a child that is at least 9 or 10 will probably understand most of this, a 5 year old would likely have a tough time understanding it.

This could definitely be a springboard for tackling other well-known and lesser-known childhood illnesses or conditions.

Thank you Melanie Weiss for writing the book. Thank you First Edition Design Publishing and Netgalley for a free digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Kris Patrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m rating whatever Emily rates!

[Samantha Deyo · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you have a young child struggling with PANS/PANDAS, I think that letting them read this short picture book would help them feel less alone in their struggles 💚

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I decided to pick up this book from *Netgalley because I like to expose my son to different things and
thought it would be great to teach him about a not so well known illness.

This book is not about panda bears but rather a very serious and not so well known sickness. A little boy wakes up one day and doesn't feel well. Anxiety, OCD, and a general sense of not feeling well are among his symptoms. After many visits with doctors and different types of procedures he finally becomes his old self again.

This book was sad. Just looking at the pictures of the boy were heartbreaking. It was full of lots of information about the illness and the ways in which it is treated. A lot of this was not easy to understand for me as an adult let alone a small child. My son had a hard time with this because much of what was being discussed was beyond what he can understand. He doesn't understand antibodies and he doesn't understand what OCD is, nor did he understand the treatments. He did stay for the whole book but I could tell he was struggling with this one.

I think this book is best for older children or those who are suffering from the illness themselves. Young children or those like my son may not understand what is going on. Even though things are explained it may be concepts that are out of their range of understanding.

That being said for me as an adult going into it I was rather fascinated by the illness and what the treatments entail. So this makes it a bit hard for me to rate this. For me it was a 5 star for my son it would be a 3 star.

I'm going to split the difference and go with 4 stars.



*I received a free copy of this ebook from Netgalley in exchange for my honest opinion
**This book was read with my special needs son who is severely learning disabled. The review reflects not only my opinion but his as well

[Ray Simmons · Rating 5 out of 5]

In A Pickle Over Pandas is probably the most NECESSARY book I’ve reviewed this year and I’ve reviewed quite a few. I think it is a must read for anyone with children. The PANDAS in this children’s story is not our furry black and white friends from China but a very frightening disease that I had never even heard of. Trust me, parents, when I say you want to read this book because the symptoms can easily be misdiagnosed and the longer that happens the more serious the effects on your child. Melanie S. Weiss is a Registered Nurse and she wrote this book from the first person point of few of a child going through this illness so as to explain what’s happening to children with the disease without frightening them. As noble a reason to write a book as any, I have ever heard of. I certainly learned a lot, and I want to repeat that every parent should read it because the diagnosis is tricky and this is one of the things you want to eliminate from the list of what might be wrong with your child first.

Melanie S. Weiss has written an elegant simple and straight to the point book with appropriate pictures and vocabulary. There are a lot of needed explanations that are simple enough for children and even their parents to understand. If you love children and if you have children, you can’t lose by buying and reading In A Pickle Over Pandas as part of the proceeds go toward PANDAS/PANS research. PANDAS is the acronym for Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorder Associated with Streptococcus.

[MadOnReading · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this picture book on PANDAS mainly as research to see how picture books tackle medical issues such as PANDAS and the level of detail into which they go into. I myself am an adult with PANS (similar to PANDAS) and I've written a lot of articles on my experiences with PANS, but these are all aimed at adults. So I was interested to see how a children's picture book would tackle it.

This book does go into a lot of detail about PANDAS--more than I thought it would do for this age range, but it is all necessary and important info (from my perspective as an adult). However, I do wonder if it's really suitable for children of the intended age range for the readership. It does get very technical, and it does have some pretty scary illustrations representing the mental health symptoms that PANDAS can cause. But, then again, if a parent is buying this for their child, chances are the child is going to have PANDAS and the book is being used as a tool to help explain the illness to the child, so the child would already be familiar with the symptoms. Therefore I think this book is more suitable for children who already have PANDAS rather than children who don't. But it is still important reading for parents as the more knowledge they have of neuropsychiatric disorders such as PANDAS and PANS the better, especially when these disorders are often misdiagnosed.

[Kimberly Safi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good for your PANDAS kids

I like that it went through symptoms and treatments. Would have liked more examples/variety of ocd & tics. Overall very well done.

[Reggie_Love · Rating 2 out of 5]

Before my review, I feel the need to give a quick summary of my own medical history. I was born with a fraked heart, grew up in and out of hospitals from the day I was born (literally, I had my first open heart surgery the day after I was born) until I was around five. I'm still sick, will always be sick, and it has shaped who I am and who I will become. This is all important because I am going to be a little critical of this story, but I've been the child and I've also worked with kids who are going through things beyond what any child should ever have to understand. While my story started immediately in my life, I still had to learn about my body and problems to explain to adults as I grew up. In that sense, we all have the same story. Okay, on to the review!

The author seemed unsure of what age she was writing for. The boy in the pictures was fairly young, but Weiss used massively long words (and their acronyms) as well as words that shouldn't appear in children/semi-picture books, "screwy." Really?! Yes, the medical terms and acronyms were used to teach the child, but an elementary school student is just going to start blanking out on you, especially when you continue using the acronym in the story. Say the word, that's fine. But give the definition is simple, plain terms. It's not a quiz. They just need to know generics. Then continue to call the IV an IV, not the medicine that's in it! I mean, hell, it was a lot to take in and I'm a medical assistant!

There was so much going on. Every page was a different symptom, and there was never relief. It was just scarier and scarier. Disease and hospitals are scary enough for kids. A book like this should only ever help, not make it worse. Discussing anxiety is important, but drawing an image of a black shadow about to engulf/attack the kid probably isn't the smartest choice. Talk about NEVER sleeping again.

The intro discussed the writer and her work with the disease. I believe she is amazing at what she does. I worry that this is written from a doctor's perspective, not from a parent or child who has it right now. It needs to be viewed in the eyes of a child. That's the most important thing. I wish Weiss, her patients, and family all the luck in the world, and I hope a new addition of this is a little more child friendly.

[Carla · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had never heard of P.A.N.D.A.S (Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorder Associated with Streptococcus) before I read this book. I definitely feel I've been briefly educated on the subject, but I would not read this book to children unless, they were dealing with the illness (which is the reason the author wrote it) or if the child knew someone with the illness. It is hard to believe that all these symptoms result from the misdiagnosis of an infection. The illustrations and easy explanations in the story would certainly assist a child who was trying to understand what was happening to them or to their friend. I am so glad that this illness is curable as that gives a child hearing this hope. Told in such a nonthreatening way, the illness seems much easier to deal with than I am sure it actually is, but it has a happy outcome. If I had a student in my class with this illness, this would be a great book to share with the classmates.

I received a copy of this book from netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

[Connie · Rating 5 out of 5]

PANDAS is a disorder in which normal children undergo drastic changes in behavior: OCD, anxiety and tics as well as other symptoms. This book explains the disorder to children and adults in very easy-to-understand terminology. I'm sure it will be a relief to any child who has been diagnosed with PANDAS to know that this isn't something they are going through alone--others have had it before them. It will also be comforting for them to learn that there are many things that can be done to help with their recovery.

I highly recommend this book for children and relatives who are in the midst of dealing with this. I also think that it would be a good book for school libraries.

[Penmouse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Author Melanie Weiss, who is a nurse, wrote In a Pickle Over PANDAS to help explain the autoimmune disorder called Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorder Associated with Streptococcus. PANDAS is also known as PANS.

In a Pickle Over PANDAS tells about how PANDAS develops, how it can be treated, and how it affects children. The illustrations help tell about the illness and how PANDAS is treated.

The writing is probably targeted for older children as it is somewhat complex. Parents could read this book to their child to help explain how PANDAS may affect their child.

Recommend.

Review written after downloading a galley book from NetGalley.

[Sam Parsons · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book in exchange for an honest review through NetGalley.

I had never heard of P.A.N.D.A.S before I read this book, and while I definitely feel I've been briefly educated on the subject, I don't think that the writing makes for a great children's book. Although, for a young child with PANDAS this may be helpful, I got frustrated with pregnancy mood swings, I couldn't imagine trying to work that out on your own at such a young age. The presentation and explanations are both adorable and easy to grasp.

[Just_me · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great little book for explaining and illness to a child or to one closely attached to one. It can be hard being medicated and having symptoms you don't understand so this book might just help the child feel a little more 'normal' and not so scared

[Melanie Evans · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully done!! Thank you, Melanie Weiss, for writing such a wonderful book for our kiddos experiencing (suffering from) PANDAS. I cannot wait to share this also with our son's teachers, doctors, and other professionals needing more understanding of PANDAS.