|
FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE
MY GRAMPY CAN’T WALK
By
Vanita Oelschlager
An
Enlightening Children’s Story Celebrating the Vitality of
People who use a Wheelchair
(December 2005)
MY GRAMPY CAN’T WALK by Vanita Oelschlager (Cleveland
Clinic Press; April 2006) is the first of a new series of
children’s books from the Cleveland Clinic Press.
Through delightful poetry and extraordinary full color
illustrations, this book is the perfect instrument for
explaining disabilities to children in a classroom or at home.
It also enables older children to read about a disease like
multiple sclerosis (MS) that Grampy or another relative might
have and understand that it is not as frightening as they
think.
 Although Grampy —
the author’s husband Jim Oelschlager — can’t walk anymore, his
MS doesn’t slow him down. And it doesn’t keep him from doing
some pretty spectacular things with his grandchildren! This is
a truly inspiring and enlightening story celebrating the
vitality of people who use a wheelchair for ease of mobility.
As the author
says, “Multiple sclerosis is like having an elephant in your
living room — permanently. You can ignore him and pretend he
isn’t there . . . or get upset and try everything to get him
out. Or you can accept that he’s there to live with you until
a cure for MS is found. One
of the things Jim and I learned is that our grandchildren
couldn’t see the MS elephant.
What they COULD see was Jim — ‘Grampy’ — in a wheelchair. A
wheelchair full of possibilities. A wheelchair that could take
them places where only grandparents and grandchildren can go.
So it was because of how our grandchildren see Grampy, and
don’t see MS, that I decided to write a book about them — but,
hopefully, for the rest of us as well.”
MY GRAMPY CAN’T
WALK is a heartening story and, with its charming
illustrations, a testament to love and joy.
MY GRAMPY CAN’T
WALK is an ideal learning tool for:
-
Families reading
together at home
-
Presenting
health issues in the classroom
-
Coordinating
professional seminars
-
Training
teaching groups and related support groups.
About the Author
Vanita Oelschlager is a mother, grandmother, businesswoman,
and author. A graduate of Mt. Union College in Ohio, Vanita
has published several children’s books and two books about her
husband, Jim Oelschlager, founder and president of Oak
Associates, Ltd. The author works with Grampy (her husband
Jim), and together they have four children and six
grandchildren. The Oelschlagers live in Akron, Ohio.
Vanita and Jim Oelschlager were recently presented with a
National Leadership Award at the 2005 National Conference of
the National Multiple Sclerosis Society in Atlanta, GA. This
award recognizes their many gifts on behalf of those with MS,
including the 2001 founding of the Oak Clinic for Multiple
Sclerosis -
http://www.oakclinic.com - and a very generous research
grant to the MS Society in 2003.
About the Cleveland Clinic Press
Cleveland Clinic Press’ books are for patients, families,
parents of children with health problems, and the children
themselves. Their authors include leading authorities from The
Cleveland Clinic as well as a diverse list of experts drawn
from other medical and health institutions whose research and
treatment breakthroughs have helped countless people. For more
information, visit the CCP web site at
http://clevelandclinicpress.org
MY GRAMPY CAN’T
WALK by Vanita Oelschlager
Illustrated by Robin Hegan and Kristin Blackwood
$17.95/hardcover
Cleveland Clinic Press
April 2006
ISBN: 1596240156
For more
recently published books from the Cleveland Clinic Press,
Click Here
^ Top
|
