New Books Co-Authored by Children’s Staff Member Help Young People Stay Healthy

Book Review by Kathi Rokke, Children’s Librarian

Be the Boss of Your Sleep, Be the Boss of Your Stress, and Be the Boss of Your Pain

Timothy Culbert, MD, and Rebecca Kajander, CPNP, MPH. Minneapolis: Free Spirit Publications, 2007.

These colorfully illustrated books, written by a Children’s staff physician in collaboration with a nurse practitioner, are designed to encourage young people (ages 9 and up) to actively participate in their own health. The information is easy to understand, and clear steps are provided to help readers develop new skills that can really make a difference in their lives.

Each book is divided into seven sections:

• Your Body Is Amazing!
• What It Means to Be the Boss of Your Body
• Information on Sleep/Stress/Pain
• Checkup for Your Body, Mind, and Spirit
• Take Control of Your Sleep/Stress/Pain
• Feel Good Every Day
• A Note to Grown-Ups.

All three books are now available in the Hideaway Children’s Library in St. Paul and in the Malkerson Children’s Library in Minneapolis.

About the authors

Timothy Culbert, MD, is a behavioral and developmental pediatrician with training in biofeedback, medical hypnosis and holistic medicine. He is the medical director for the Integrative Medicine Program at Children's Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota. Tim gives presentations nationally and internationally and publishes widely on mind-body skills training with children and teens. He has helped kids in clinical practice for 15 years, with special interest in teaching kids self-care skills.

Rebecca Kajander, CPNP, MPH, is a nurse practitioner at the Alexander Center, Park Nicollet Health Services of Minnesota. She has treated children and adolescents for nearly 40 years, has helped hundreds of children take care of themselves using self-care skills, and has helped many more understand and live with ADHD. In 2000, Rebecca was named Pediatric Nurse Practitioner of the Year by the Minnesota chapter of the National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners.