Franklin Goes to Hospital

Sharon Jennings's Franklin Goes to Hospital is a gentle story for 5 year olds about a little turtle who needs an operation and feels very, very scared about it.

What happens

Franklin's never been to hospital before. Then a football hits him hard in the chest, and the doctor finds a small crack in his shell. Dr Bear needs to put a pin in it so it grows properly. He'll have to stay in overnight.

Everyone keeps telling Franklin how brave he is. His friends do. His dad does. The nurse does. Franklin doesn't say anything.

Because the truth is he's only pretending. When it's time for his X-ray, he bursts into tears. He's worried the machine will show everyone that inside, he's frightened.

It's such a lovely moment. Dr Bear sits down next to him and explains that an X-ray only shows shell and bones, not feelings. Then she tells him that being brave doesn't mean not being scared. It means doing what you have to do, even when you are.

Isn't that a brilliant thing for a small child to hear?

What makes it really useful is how calmly it walks through the ordinary bits of a hospital stay. No eating after bedtime the night before. A bracelet with his name on it, a special gown and a ride in a wheelchair. Cream to numb his hand before the needle, and stickers on his chest. Then he's asked to count backwards, and he only gets as far as eight.

None of it is scary on the page. It's all just explained, the way you'd hope a real doctor would.

If your little one has a hospital visit coming up, this could be a really good one to share beforehand. Even without one, lots of children will know the feeling of being told they're brave when they don't feel brave at all.

The ending's a treat too (and that X-ray comes back in the nicest way).

What to read next

Franklin's worried tummy turns up again in Franklin Goes to School, where he's so nervous about his first day that it feels full of jumping frogs.