This is the Children’s Bookshelf and I’m Sue Ann Martin
Dr. Fauci: How A Boy from Brooklyn Became America’s Doctor written by Kate Messner and illustrated by Alexandra Bye is a colorful story about the childhood, boyhood and adult career of Tony Fauci.
Young Anthony, born in 1940, was a curious child especially about the world around him such as the fish in his aquarium and the stars in the sky. His father ran a drugstore, Fauci’s Pharmacy. It was a family affair. His mother and older sister tended to the customers and Anthony delivered prescriptions on his bicycle.
It was his father who taught him how to solve problems by thinking about them very carefully and not getting discouraged. This advice served him well through his medical school days, his work at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and during his years fighting AIDS, the West Nile virus, SARS, Ebola and COVID -19.
The back material features family photographs such as Dr. Fauci playing basketball in high school and a picture of the Fauci Pharmacy. There’s a charming photograph of Dr. Fauci as he talks directly to the young reader about Dr. Fauci’s Five Tips For Future Scientists. It includes this first piece of advice------“Keep an open mind. Science is discovery, which means, that from the beginning, you don’t know what the answer is. Leave open all the possibilities of what you might find.”
Dr. Fauci: How a Boy from Brooklyn Became America’s Doctor is well researched and written by Kate Messner with lively Illustrations by Alexandra Bye. It’s designed for readers 5-8 years of age (Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2021).
The Children’s Bookshelf is a production of WCMU. Links to the podcast and activity questions can be found at Children’s Bookshelf dot org.
Activity Questions for Dr. Fauci: How A Boy from Brooklyn Became America’s Doctor
Turn to Dr. Fauci’s Five Tips for Future Scientists at the back of this book. Read them through carefully. Why does Dr. Fauci say science is discovery? Why does Dr. Fauci warn against being afraid to fail? Are you afraid to fail? Have you ever stopped looking into something because you might come up with a silly answer? What does Dr. Fauci mean when he says science is self-correcting? Have you ever examined something only to find that your research showed that what you had thought was not correct? How did that make you feel? Write a paragraph about this experience in a formal journal or a notebook.
Younger readers: Find the following images in the book’s delightful illustrations: LOOK CLOSELY FOR a goldfish, a blue bicycle, Anderson Coffee, Lucky’s Cleaners, a red soccer ball, hospital emergency drop off area, empty streets, Masks Save Lives sign, red tennis shoes, vaccine bottle and a microscope.
There is one solemn picture of a totally empty street. Take a long look. How does this picture make you feel? Give this illustration a caption using one to five or so words.
