Product Description
In the summer of 1952, Betsy sees her vacation fun overshadowed by the spreading polio epidemic, while her mother and other scientists work frantically to develop a vaccine for the crippling disease. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

WILL MY CHILDREN READ THIS ?
THIS BOOK IS FULL OF FEAR. WHY SCARE MY CHILD WITH SOMETHING IF IT IS NOT NECESSARY ? I LIKE THE STORY AND HOW THE AUTHOR TOUCHED ON SEVERAL DIFFERNT SUBJECTS. I THINK TO DO THIS STORY JUSTICE, THE BOOK NEEDED TO BE LONGER. THIS IS THE FIRST CHILDREN'S BOOK I HAVE SEEN ABOUT POLIO. KEEP THEM COMING.

great book
A great childrens' polio book.It taught me about polio,something I didn't know anything about.The book had a message about not discriminating against people who had polio. The book shows us how to find out about the disease so that we don't hurt people's feelings.I think the author should write a similar book about AIDS.Tim

Disappointing!
Only a person who lived through the polio years could relate to this story.Today's children need more background to understand the reasons for the fear, the method of polio transmission, and the references to "commies."As a polio survivor, I had hoped that this book would tell a more informative and compelling story.Instead, the book raises more questions than it answers.I found it disappointing. ... Read more

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Absorbing accounts of a paraplegic's struggles through boyhood into early adulthood. We share his pain and frustration- the endless trial and error. But as we also share in the love and laughter, courage and optimism that make this a book to remember ... Read more

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Dr Munsat and other physicians discuss the nature of the post-polio syndrome, its pathogenesis, treatment, and community resources. Electrophysical changes, physiology and morphology, nature of weakness, and support groups are among the issues presented. ... Read more

Product Description
We are close to eradicating polio from the earth. Through a collaborative effort on the part of many health organizations, including CDC, WHO, and USAID, among others, there has been a global campaign to vaccinate every child on the planet against this dreaded disease. Travel with our authors as they take part in one of the last vaccination campaigns, and read about the successes and obstacles affecting the final goal. Includes numerous photos of campaigns in in various parts of the world. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A first hand account of a daunting challenge
The Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) is arguably the greatest-ever act in the name of the public good. It has taken 18 years of coordinated effort by millions of healthcare workers and volunteers in every country. It has cost $4 billion. It involves vaccinating every child on the planet time and time again-and at this very moment it may be on the brink of success. But the stakes are unspeakably high: if the program fails, or misses a few infected children, or gives up in frustration at an apparently endless sequence of obstacles, the entire world could be re-infected within five years.

Despite goals to eradicate the incurable disease globally by 2000 and then 2005, health officials continue to go village to village, in countries such as Nigeria, India and Afghanistan-and just this week in Iraq-to chase the infectious disease out of existence.

Tim Brookes, author of The End of Polio? Behind the Scenes of the Campaign to Vaccinate Every Child on the Planet (with Omar A. Khan, M.D.), joined an immunization campaign in Pakistan and discloses the successes and obstacles affecting the final goal. It's a particularly daunting task in countries that are torn apart by war.

Brookes' book is a first in that it is the first time anyone has reported on eradication campaign while it is happening from the field.

"This initiative is as ambitious as us putting a man on the moon in 1969," the author says, "and it has already taken twice as long."

In his book, Brookes, director of the Professional Writing program at Champlain College in Burlington, Vt., tells the story of these challenges in a readable and accessible narrative, clearly showing the scope of the eradication program, the challenges that remain, and the consequences of failure.

One of the challenges he describes is parents who must trust a vaccinator, often a stranger, enough to allow their child to be vaccinated. He writes about planners who map the areas where vaccinations must be provided, health workers who identify where children are being paralyzed, and laboratories that confirm where the polio virus is circulating. He uncovers the process wherein political leaders are engaged, or not, to ensure that eradication activities can proceed, and the traditional and religious leaders who relieve the fears and anxieties of parents as they prepare communities and their inhabitants for vaccination campaigns.

Brookes also points out that at the Pakistan-Afghan border, there are a cluster of problems that may be insurmountable. One is that the border is not heavily patrolled: there is no definitive line and smuggling remains an issue. "It is impossible to prevent weapons or drugs or goods from being smuggled, so one has to wonder how we can prevent a virus, which can hide in the gut, from crossing the border. As a result, the polio virus is endemic on both sides of the border and no one knows which side it is living on. Each side continually reinfects the other. This happened in China when a single infected truck driver crossed the border."

"Tim Brookes' chronicle will serve as a lesson for future infectious disease challenges, just as chronicles of the eradication of another infectious disease, smallpox, have taught many of the lessons now being applied to polio," writes David L. Heymann, M.D. of the WHO.

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Customer Reviews (1)

Grandma's story
My Grandma wrote this book using heartfelt expressions to convey to emotional turmoil she experienced during her transition from able-bodied to being in a wheelchair. She loved figure skating, cats and country life. Polio made her stronger in some ways. She pioneered wheel chair travel to the U.S., made universities face accessibility issues, managed a video lending library, and taught me that disability doesn't mean inability. This is a good book for book clubs and those who enjoy reading "real" characters. ... Read more

Product Description
Polio infantile paralysis was until recently a greatly feared disease, but is now preventable by a vaccine, which has largely eradicated it from the Western hemisphere; a global eradication campaign is underway. This book tells of the story of polio in fascinating and personal detail, through a series of essays written by those who experienced the disease: its victims, those who cared for them and those who worked to eliminate it altogether.The opening chapter recounts the history of polio from its earliest depiction in Egyptian art to the present day; it is followed by three personal descriptions of the experiences of patients who were paralysed in youth by polio, but went on to build successful lives. The challenges of caring for polio sufferers are described by two physicians who worked on polio wards at the height of the epidemic. The story of the cultivation of poliovirus and the testing of the vaccines is related by two research scientists who devoted much of their careers to the laboratories where the breakthroughs were achieved. The final essays describe the public health vaccination campaigns which successfully eradicated polio from the Americas, as experienced by those who directed them.Dr THOMAS M. DANIEL is Professor Emeritus of Medicine and International Health and Director of the Center for International Health at Case Western Reserve University; Dr FREDERICK C. ROBBINS is University Professor and Dean Emeritus of the School of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University.Contributors:THOMAS M. DANIEL, FREDERICK C. ROBBINS, MICHAEL W.R. DAVIS, ANN L. MCLAUGHLIN, RUTH E. FRISCHER, ROBERT M. EIBEN, MARTHA LIPSON LEPOW, JOAO BAPTISTA RISI, JR., CIRO A. DE QUADROS ... Read more

Product Description
This book is part of the Our Name in History series, a collection of fascinating facts and statistics, alongside short historical commentary, created to tell the story of previous generations who have shared this name.The information in this book is a compendium of research and data pulled from census records, military records, ships' logs, immigrant and port records, as well as other reputable sources. Topics include:

• Name Meaning and Origin
• Immigration Patterns and Census Detail
• Family Lifestyles
• Military Service History
• Comprehensive Source Guide, for future research

Customer Reviews (1)

An American Revolution
Ultimately laying the groundwork for disability rights legislation including special education, the post-war survivors of the polio epidemic refused to feel 'sorry' for themselves and each other.
Rather they created a disability pride culture which began transforming how Americans viewed competency, ability, and productivity. They could not be locked up and away out of public sight, as had been the practice during previous generations.

Reading this expertly researched work in an era with wheelchair ramps and securement spaces on transit vehicles demonstrates how successful the pioneers were. I and my contemporaries now take it for granted that people in wheelchairs can now more or less freely move about their own community, let alone a community.

This work is recommended for public libraries. It would also be an important volume for sociology college classes focusing on community organizing, particularly from the perspective of what would become known as disability rights. Their experiences prompted these individuals to lobby legislators--and become the ones themselves passing legislation expanding civil rights.

Although it includes some prototypical articles from 'women's magazines' chronicling the polio epidemic, I still feel the overall content of this book lends itself to examining how people with disabilities ourselves proactively live in a society which itself was not willing to acknowledge our presence.
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Customer Reviews (1)

Below 8-12, IMHO
I kind of think this book is below the age limit described. The information included was not anything you can't find online or on Wikipedia. ... Read more

Product Description
Larry Schulenberg's life drastically changed when he awoke one morning and discovered that polio, without warning, had taken away his ability to walk.During the intervening years, he's done more than merely survive.He has become a husband, teacher, parent, and principal.Nearly a decade ago, Mr. Schulenberg was confronted by post polio syndrome and was forced to call an end to his career in education.Then, his son was incarcerated as a result of an addiction.So the former principal became an activist for reforming the federal sentencing laws and remained a loving husband and father.This inspirational memoir, To Catch the Snowflakes, tells the story of a little boy who was encouraged by his mother to do more than sit and watch the snowflakes fall to the ground and melt and so spent his life catching them. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

An absolutely wonderful book
To Catch The Snowflakes is one of the best books I've ever read and I've read plenty. I must say "Thank you" to the author. He's lived quite a life...and he tells quite a story. In the game of life, he's a winner...even though polio tried real hard to defeat him. He didn't allow that to happen.

Breathtaking
The story that Mr. Schulenberg tells is one of hope, humor and acts as a constant reminder of the blessings in our lives.Though stricken with challenges, the author explains that each challenge was a stepping stone to greatness and fullfillment.
This story is a heartwarming tale of the strength of family and the endurance of family. It is a must-have and a must-read.

Hollywood:Pay Attention
I am amazed that anyone could pack so much into a little over 100 pages. I laughed. I cried. I was inspired. The next time I'm down and feel as though life is winning, I'll take this book from the shelf. Every high school in the country should require this book to be read by seniors before they are allowed to graduate and enter the world. Hollywood: pay attention. This book would make a terrific, a beautiful, an inspiring movie. ... Read more

Product Description
Webster's bibliographic and event-based timelines are comprehensive in scope, covering virtually all topics, geographic locations and people. They do so from a linguistic point of view, and in the case of this book, the focus is on "Polio," including when used in literature (e.g. all authors that might have Polio in their name). As such, this book represents the largest compilation of timeline events associated with Polio when it is used in proper noun form. Webster's timelines cover bibliographic citations, patented inventions, as well as non-conventional and alternative meanings which capture ambiguities in usage. These furthermore cover all parts of speech (possessive, institutional usage, geographic usage) and contexts, including pop culture, the arts, social sciences (linguistics, history, geography, economics, sociology, political science), business, computer science, literature, law, medicine, psychology, mathematics, chemistry, physics, biology and other physical sciences. This "data dump" results in a comprehensive set of entries for a bibliographic and/or event-based timeline on the proper name Polio, since editorial decisions to include or exclude events is purely a linguistic process. The resulting entries are used under license or with permission, used under "fair use" conditions, used in agreement with the original authors, or are in the public domain. ... Read more

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Discusses the life and accomplishments of Jonas Salk, including his discovery of the vaccine against polio and his work on influenza and AIDS. ... Read more

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Recounts the successful search of Jonas Salk for the vaccine that conquered polio. ... Read more