I Can't Stop!: A Story about Tourette's Syndrome

by Holly L. Niner, Meryl Treatner (Illustrator)

Overview

2006 Best Book of the Year, Bank Street College
2006 Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Special Needs Adaptable Product Award

One day Nathan starts blinking—a lot. It bothers his parents and his sister. After a while the blinking stops, but then Nathan starts sniffing. A doctor explains that Nathan's movements are called tics.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780807536216
Publisher:	Whitman, Albert & Company
Publication date:	01/01/2005
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	32
File size:	8 MB
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Holly L. Niner is a speech therapist and a writer. She has two grown children and lives with her husband and one crazy cat in Indiana.

Editorial Reviews

K-Gr 4-At first, Nathan can't stop winking. When it ceases, he repeatedly sniffs. Head snapping replaces the sniffing. The child's repetitive behaviors upset his family and his friend Josh; they also distract his classmates. Although Nathan's age is not stated, Treatner's realistic artwork in a painterly style suggests that he is in an intermediate grade. When he becomes tearful and distraught over his inability to stop what he is doing, his parents finally take him to a doctor. Diagnosed with Tourette syndrome, Nathan learns to control new repetitive behaviors, called tics, without medication. Niner's informative but didactic story includes factual details about this compulsive disorder. An introduction for parents and teachers gives more information about it and notes that tics are common among children. The plot and primarily one-dimensional characters are devices to educate readers about TS. There is lots of dialogue, and the students in Nathan's class represent diverse cultures. Very few books are available for young audiences on this medical concern; what's out there tends to be nonfiction for older readers. Thus, this title does fill a void.-Lynn K. Vanca, Akron-Summit County Public Library, Richfield, OH Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal

"Niner's informative but didactic story includes factual details about this compulsive disorder."

School Library Journal

From the Publisher