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Ben and Izzy’s Story Living with Anaphylaxis ISBN: 9781445156620
Glynne, Andy and Maldonado, Salvador
Published by Franklin Watts, 2017
Izzy has a severe allergy to nuts of any kind, and she tells us what even a tiny bit of nut can do to her a shaky feeling, dry mouth, sore tongue, swelling lips, hives all over her body, and then a bad headache and stomach ache. Ben is allergic to nuts too, but also shellfish and kiwi fruit. He discovered his anaphylaxis when eating a meal at home that had nuts in it. He couldn’t breathe, and his mum called an ambulance; the ambulance men knew to give him an oxygen mask, which helped save him. Izzy doesn’t like going to the market because there could be nuts almost anywhere, and she finds going to a restaurant for a meal difficult too. Ben was on an aeroplane where nuts were being served and had to wear an oxygen mask for the rest of the journey; he was ‘really annoyed’. Izzy isn’t invited to a sleepover because the other girls are having nutella for breakfast, and this is upsetting. We see Ben injecting himself with an EpiPen and holding it in place for ten seconds, and Izzy tells us sometimes she has to use two pens before the adrenaline works. Both children have to be super-careful about what they eat, and even at Izzy’s own birthday party she must make the sensible decision not to eat the cake. They both seem to have a kind of second sense about what to touch and what to eat, and this is a life-saving talent. Good pictures that are realistic and moving and show things as they are for both children, add to the information, and this is a good book for those with the condition as well as those of their friends who want to understand more of what anaphylaxis is about.
Age: 6+