Avoiding Milk Protein     Books for children about allergies

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					Field Trip Safety for Sara by Penny Webster More about Penny Webster and her new book.
	Cody the Allergic Cow suitable for 3-5 year olds with milk allergy. Educate in classroom or young children.		Louie loved pizza, that changed when he became allergic to pizza and the doctor said he needed a great big allergy shot!		9-12 year olds. Introduction to allergies - what causes them (pollen, dust, dander, insect stings, food, etc), eczema, to asthma, to anaphylactic reactions.		Written for School aged children with food allergies. Sharing lunches, special parties and events,and appropriate snacks. Give understanding as to the symptoms and dangers of food allergies.
	Interactive Flashcards Teaching Individuals about Staying Safe with Peanut & Tree Nut Allergies These flashcards are designed to help children, their families, friends, and child care providers learn about the hidden dangers and possible places that peanuts and tree nuts may be present. The flash-cards combine a wide variety of comprehensive information into an easy to learn format. The flashcards help individuals understand why vigilance is necessary at home, and in the school systems to help keep children safe. more				Dealing with food allergies and dietary restrictions should not be taken lightly, but yet must be viewed with optimism. This is the message driven in Kyle Dine's new CD titled "You Must Be Nuts!". It is a collection of fun and catchy educational music all about food allergies! Kids will be singing and dancing along with songs like Epi-Man, Tingle on My Tongue, No Dairy Please! and more! For more information or to purchase a copy for your family today, go to www.kyledine.com
	This week I found a children’s picture book new to my local library: The Peanut-Free Cafe, by Gloria Koster, illustrated by Maryann Cocca-Leffler. Honestly, I have mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, I encourage and approve of any book that empowers parents to communicate to children, teachers, students, schools, family–whoever–on the topic of peanut allergy (and life-threatening food allergies in general). The book is well-illustrated, and provides one possible response a school could take to the introduction of a peanut-allergic child to the shared cafeteria space. (The solution is that they open a “peanut-free cafe” complete with movies, snacks, treats, and a fun “club-like” atmosphere. All the kids stop bringing peanut butter so they can sit in the “peanut-free cafe” and chill with big-screen movies and what-not.) On the other hand, I can also see school officials feeling pressed against the wall by a book such as this. Because it is a story for children told in simple, straight-forward terms, I am afraid that emotionally-charged, desperate parents of very young (preschool or younger) allergy kids might seize upon the solution offered in this book and build up false hopes that their child’s current or future school will respond accordingly, if only they present the solution in just the right way. The fact is, even with a very cooperative school, parents are not likely to sweep into a school (let alone a new one) and just present an elaborate solution such as this one, and find a team of teachers, cafeteria staff, faculty, and students willing and able to make this happen overnight. I’m not saying it’s impossible. I’m just saying…there’s an element of fantasy to this book that makes me uncomfortable. It makes me uncomfortable because I know that parents heart-broken over peanut allergy and searching for answers may get their hopes up–and may get their children’s hopes up–based on the scenario this book presents. I’m not saying don’t read it. Read it. But think about it seriously before you present it to your child or your school. Some school administrators will react to a book like this very positively. Others will be defensive, and it will cause more problems. Only you can judge whether or not your teachers, principal, staff, etc. are open and willing to entertain a solution like this. Only you know if your child can handle a fantasy scenario presented to him that his own school might not be willing to carry out for his own health and safety. Only you know. So…I have to give the Peanut-Free Cafe two stars out of four. I really want to whole-heartedly recommend it. I really want to say it is a great book for everyone, and everyone should read it, and it’s just great. The truth is, I can’t in good conscience say that. I just know, living as a parent of a peanut-allergic child for over five years, that the world I live in is not enough like the world in this book. I wish it were. I hope someday it will be. But pretending it is, when it really isn’t, puts my kid’s life in danger. Period.  From leslea Harmon from www.allergyware.com