Dr. Charlotte Cowan was practicing at Boston's MassGeneral Hospital for Children in 2000 when she approached the chairman of pediatrics about her aspiration to write stories for sick children in an illustrated picture book format.
On the spot, he offered her a sabbatical to pursue her goal.
“That was a real gift,” recalled Dr. Cowan, a pediatrician who majored in English as an undergraduate at Princeton (N.J.) University.
The next year she left her pediatric practice to write and publish full-color picture books intended for readers aged 2-7 years. Collectively known as the Dr. Hippo series, her first five books address acute infectious illnesses and are written with the mission of entertaining, educating, and comforting both parents and children (www.drhippo.com).
The notion of writing children's books first came during her residency training. One night, several children under 4 years of age came into the emergency department with acute asthmatic exacerbations. “They needed nebulizers and were frightened by the mask,” Dr. Cowan said. “I remember thinking 'there must be a better way to do this.'”
Each book in the Dr. Hippo series has a child-friendly plot, follows an illness from first symptom through resolution, and contains information and reassurance for the sick child.
The first book of the series, “The Little Elephant With the Big Earache” (Concord, Mass.: Hippocratic Press, 2004), recounts the story of Eddie, a young elephant who awakens in the middle of the night with an earache after an afternoon of playing with his cousins who are visiting for his upcoming birthday party. The next morning, Eddie's mom takes him to see Dr. Hippocrates, a friendly hippopotamus drawn from Dr. Cowan's own experience as a pediatrician and mother of three. Dr. Hippo takes a wait and see approach without prescribing antibiotics for Eddie's mild case of otitis media, and Eddie recovers in time to enjoy his birthday party.
Dr. Cowan, who resides in eastern Massachusetts, said that she has not taken formal courses in writing short stories, “but I have read a great many of them. The need to create characters, develop a plot, and convey medical education in 900 words or less was extremely challenging.”
The next book planned for the series is about obesity, the first in a number of titles that will address chronic illnesses.
Ten states have used the “The Little Elephant With the Big Earache” in antibiotic awareness outreach campaigns, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention invited the Hippocratic Press to be part of its 2009 “Get Smart About Antibiotics” campaign.
Each book in the series helps reassure sick children by following an illness.
Source Courtesy Dr. Charlotte Cowan
'The need to create characters, develop a plot, and convey' information in 900 words or less was challenging.
Source DR. COWAN