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Back-to-school is here! Summer is coming to a close and classrooms are prepping to welcome new students to take the long journey through the next grade. The first day of school can be scary for many children, especially as they enter a new school, or are beginning school for the first time. So, in honor of the first day of school we have compiled a list of Sylvan Dell books that are great reads to prepare for that first day.

The Giraffe Who Was Afraid of Heights – Imagine if the one thing that keeps you safe is what you fear the most. This enchanting story tells of a giraffe who suffers from the fear of heights. His parents worry about his safety and send him to the village doctor for treatment. Along the way he befriends a monkey who is afraid of climbing trees and a hippo that is afraid of water. A life-threatening event causes the three friends to face and overcome each of their fears.

Home in the Cave – Baby Bat loves his cave home and never wants to leave it. While practicing flapping his wings one night, he falls, and Pluribus Packrat rescues him. They then explore the deepest, darkest corners of the cave where they meet amazing animals—animals that don’t need eyes to see or colors to hide from enemies. Baby Bat learns how important bats are to the cave habitat and how other cave-living critters rely on them for their food. Will Baby Bat finally venture out of the cave to help the other animals?

Henry the Impatient Heron – Henry the Heron couldn’t stand still! He was always moving, and it drove everyone crazy! His brother and sister yelled at him for stepping on their heads, and Mom and Dad could barely get food into his little baby mouth. But herons have to stand still to catch their food, so how would Henry ever be able to eat on his own? In Henry, the Impatient Heron, Donna Love takes readers along with Henry as he learns a valuable lesson from the King of Camouflage! Hilarious and lighthearted illustrations by Christina Wald complement the important lesson in the text. It is a meaningful lesson for both herons and kids alike, which teaches the importance of just being still!

How the Moon Regained Her Shape – This fascinating story influenced by Native American folktales explains why the moon changes shape and helps children deal with bullies. After the sun insults and bullies her, the moon feels so badly hurt that she shrinks and leaves the sky. The moon turns to a comet and her many friends on earth to comfort her. Her friends include rabbits and Native Americans. Then she regains her full shape, happiness, and self-esteem. The moon also returns to her orbit.

And for the younger siblings just beginning counting and ABC’s

ABC Safari - Let’s search for adventure above in the sky. We’ll scout through the mountains and hills, and then try exploring the forests, the meadows and plains, across the dry desert and through jungle rains. We’ll trek through a swamp, a puddle, a pond, in lakes and the river, the ocean beyond. But, what are we looking for? Who will we see? Find animals on this Safari with me! Once you’ve discovered all the animals, turn to the “For Creative Minds” educational section for sorting cards and animal fun facts.

Count Down to Fall - The summer days get a little colder; the leaves turn from green to orange and red. Fall must be on the way, and while you unpack sweaters and scarves, the animals frolic outside in the crisp autumn air beneath a wide blue sky. In Fran Hawk’s Count Down to Fall, watch the falling leaves tumble all around. The vibrant and detailed illustrations of Sherry Neidigh capture the majesty of the maple, the oak, the linden, and more. Critters play in the time of changing seasons, and remind us that the changes of the earth affect us all-animals and humans alike!

We hope that you have a wonderful first day of school!

by Harvey Max Chochinov

A senior colleague recently shared with me the trials of going through a bout of cancer treatment. Physicians are not known to make the best patients and the transition he described was not an easy one. At one point he said, “I wanted to hang a sign over my bed saying ‘P.I.P.’ — Previously Important Person.” To be frank, I was astounded. This man is not only a highly respected and seasoned clinician, but an internationally lauded researcher and medical leader, whose accomplishments have garnered various recognitions and lofty acclaim. And yet, being a patient, in spite of what he described as excellent care, quickly led to feeling that “who he was” was largely overshadowed by “what he had.”

Source: New York Public Library

The word patient comes from the Latin patientem, meaning someone who is sick or suffering. The word patience — to bear or endure without complaint — shares the identical Latin etymology. Perhaps this common derivation suggests that it takes patience to be a patient. But what is it that patients must bear and endure without complaint? Think of even your most trivial recent health care encounter. Having your call put on hold; being kept waiting for an appointment; having to disrobe or expose private information; any of these might lead you to bemoan that you felt “just like a patient” — without a doubt, the most common critique of any health-care encounter. Feeling “like a patient” means feeling defined based on a problem or diagnosis. Personhood thrives on the expression of individual identity and being able to exercise freedom and choice. Patienthood is based on diagnostic specificity; it demands adherence to certain clinical or institutional conformities and routines, in return for which it provides organ or disease specific, evidence-based options.

A woman I helped look after many years ago with leukemia was admitted for treatment to our city hospital. Being young and fiercely independent, she struggled, not merely with having to face a life threatening illness, but the sudden assault on her sense of who she was. Almost overnight, she had to relinquish her freedom and submit to strict infection controls, including isolation on the bone marrow transplant unit. Like any patient, she was assigned a chart number, given a standard plastic wrist identification bracelet, and issued the usual, drab hospital garb. Her treatment, tailored according to detailed laboratory findings and genetic markers, was highly aggressive and invasive. One morning after having encountered her share of hardships, including total hair loss, nausea and various nasty complications, she emerged from her room wearing a beautiful, full-length blue satin nightgown. Those of us who worked closely with her realized immediately that this was no frivolous gesture. In fact, this was a way of asserting herself, a way of saying: “This is who I am,” “I am more than my white counts,” “Please, see me.”

Similarly, Jean Dominique Bauby, the former editor of Elle