Come Sit By Me (review)

399 Review COME SIT BY ME By Margaret Merrifield, M.D. Illustrated by Heather Collins. 29 pp. Toronto: Women's Press, 1990. $6.95. French edition forthcoming in 1992. Come Sit By Me is an inviting and cozy story, written, we are told, as "an educational storybook about AIDS and HIV infection for small children ages four to eight and their caregivers." Written by a Canadian physician and very ably illustrated by a veteran children's-book artist, Come Sit ByMeis claimed to be the first picturebook for children on the subject of AIDS and ΗΓν* infection. It tells the story of a little girl (Karen) and her friendship with a day-care playmate (Nicholas) who has AIDS. When we are first introduced to Nicholas, we are told that he is quiet. Not that he is rude; he simply "didn't play much." Later, we discover that during the winter, Nicholas has been home sick for many days. One night at the dinner table, Karen finally asks, almost off-handedly, "Whaf s AIDS?" Karen's mother is a physician who is also well informed about AIDS. Unfazed, mom is ready with a simple, straight-to-the-point response: "When you get sick with a fever, a cough, or a runny nose, thousands of healthy fighter cells in your blood help you get better. But if Nicholas has AIDS, some of the most important fighter cells in his blood can't fight any more. They can't help him get better from his fever, cough, or runny nose like yours do." Not bad. Even better, however, is the relaxed, nonhysterical, after-dinner chat between mother and daughter which serves as the occasion for this interchange about the disease. Mom's bite-sized definition of AIDS is particularly appropriate for children in this age group. But it also has the charm of being accessible to adults who frequently find it difficult to express complex ideas simply. In fact, the real appeal of the story is that it provides the adult reader with one of those rare opportunities to be delighted, informed, and touched— while being spared an overdose of the syrupy prose that characterizes all too many children's books. But the book is much more than a handy, kid-sized definition of AIDS. The children are interracial, so that young readers are likely to see someone who looks like them (even if their own day-care setting is not so diverse). The key concepts that we most want communicated to children—that playmates with Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved, Vol. 2, No. 3, Winter 1991 400_________________________________________________________ AIDS should not be shunned and that casual contact will not result in infection— are all there. The author is aware, one would surmise, that while children frequently ask questions that sound weighty, they generally want adults to address simple, concrete concerns. Karen, for example, was not seeking an explanation of the Centers for Disease Control's diagnostic criteria for AIDS. Quite to the contrary, she simply wanted reassurance that she might continue her friendship with Nicholas without worrying that she might catch his disease. This book has an additional virtue: it does not attempt to do too much. Although we are not told exactly how Nicholas contracted HIV, the appendix has a thoughtful fact-filled summary of the key facts about HIV infection, AIDS, and the modes of HIV transmission. The book will serve as an easy introduction to a difficult topic, provide adults and caregivers with an accessible glossary of important topics, and invite all readers to learn more about one of this century's most devastating public health crises. Naturally, the book is not without its flaws; the author did not intend to write a textbook. We are told, for example, that "The first stage [of HIV infection] has no symptoms or mild symptoms, which usually clear up." More should have been said about the latency period and about the fact that the infection does not "clear up" permanently. Readers might also misinterpret the statement that "most people do not even know that they have HIV in their bodies" as suggesting that the virus resides in uninfected persons. Finally...