Real-life experiences inspire Valerie's book aimed at making hospital visits less scary for children

Nurse Anna is based on Valerie's own daughter who is a children's nurse who had Hodgkin's Lymphoma last year

Carmel Doyle, CEO Jack & Jill, and Valerie Judge author, and Ava Kenny read Gerry The Giraffe Goes To Hospital in The Gutter Bookshop, Dalkey County Dublin. Picture: Sara Hanley

Even non-painful medical procedures can be frightening for children — and when a little boy or girl is in pain as well then a visit to hospital can be particularly stressful. 

Mother of two, Valerie Judge, has written and illustrated a children's book aimed at making hospital less scary for child patients and their brothers and sisters. 

And the full-colour book has been launched in aid of the Jack & Jill Children's Foundation. 

Valerie is a management consultant who has returned to her artistic roots: she wrote and illustrated Gerry Giraffe Goes to Hospital during the pandemic lockdown.

Nurse Anna looks after Gerry The Giraffe when he Goes To Hospital

The book is inspired by Valerie’s daughter Anna Rose McKeever who trained in CHI Crumlin and is now a cardiac children’s nurse at Great Ormond Street hospital in London and knows all about the anxieties children may have when going to hospital. Anna-Rose has first-hand knowledge of procedures facing some sick children. She herself underwent treatment for Hodgkin's Lymphoma cancer last year. Happily, Anna Rose is now all clear and back to work in Great Ormond Street.

"She got a lump in her neck just before Christmas last year 2019 and was diagnosed the Monday of Christmas week. And we got her care transferred to Dublin and she got through it fine but Covid hit in the middle for all of us and we all took up our Covid hobbies. I did an art course and one of the projects was to do a few pages of a children's book. It grew from there."

Valerie's daughter Anna Rose McKeever is a cardiac children's nurse at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London

Valerie's artistic career actually began when she was around nine years old when she won a colouring competition in the then Cork Examiner "two weeks in a row!". 

In his first illustrated adventure, Gerry Giraffe suffers from ‘a bendy neck’ and has to visit hospital, where he undergoes all sorts of tests and procedures, such as an x-ray and a scan.

The book is designed to help children understand the process of being a patient attending hospital, sometimes more than once. It is also a handy illustrative explainer for siblings at home who may be wondering what’s going on.

“Attending hospital can be daunting for any patient and that applies even more so for children. Procedures such as x-rays or scans can be bewildering or even sometimes frightening. So, I thought why not draw a fun story to explain the mysteries of it all?” said Valerie.

Sam Kenny, Ava Kenny, Valerie Judge and Emilie Roberts launch Gerry The Giraffe Goes To Hospital at The Gutter Bookshop, Dalkey County Dublin. Picture: Sara Hanley

In Gerry Giraffe Goes To Hospital, Gerry and his bendy neck meet Nurse Anna and her friends at the hospital. He learns about scans and x-rays, and he gets a spin in a wheelie chair. He may not be completely fixed on his first visit, but he is well looked after, and looks forward to his next visit.

“Anna-Rose pointed out to me that in actual fact, it is often the family left worrying at home who could do with a bit of an explainer as to what is going on in the hospital. I really hope this book and Gerry’s adventures will go a long way to help those families. We’ve been touched by serious illness in our own family, and that is why all profits from this edition are going to the Jack & Jill Children’s Foundation,” explained Valerie.

Valerie Judge, author, and Ava Kenny read Gerry The Giraffe Goes To Hospital. Picture: Sara Hanley

And she's on a roll now: There is a second book planned — about Gerry giraffe learning to make music, and also a colouring book and hospital journal.

"I have planned a series and they will all be about little anxieties that kids have. The music book is when his cousin Joanna who plays the piano is coming to visit, and he’s embarrassed that he can’t play a musical instrument ... performance anxiety!"

• jackandjill.ie
• The book is on sale from Amazon at €20 and at the Gutter Bookshop in Dalkey in Dublin, with proceeds from the sales going to the Jack & Jill Children’s Foundation.