Fall 1999

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Board Certification Update
Developmental Screening
Using the Pediatric Symptom Checklist
FOPE II Survey Results
AACPDM Outcomes Program
Pediatric Undernutrition

Reviews

Song for Cecilia Fantini
Unhealthy Societies

1998 Award Recipients

Karen Olness, M.D.
Marian Wright Edelman, J.D.

In Memoriam

Katherine Bain, M.D. FAAP

Handouts

Pediatric Symptom Checklist
Dealing with Teasing

by William Lord Coleman, M.D. Chapel Hill, NC

A Song for Cecilia Fantini by Cynthia Astor. Starseed Press, Box 1082, Tiburon CA 94920. 32 pages. $ 14.95

A Song for Cecilia Fantini is a wise, compassionate, and realistic story that is beautifully written and wonderfully illustrated. It is written by Ms. Astor for her granddaughter following the death of the author's own daughter. It has won various awards including the 1998 Notable Children's Trade Books in the Field of Social Studies and the Children's Book Council Choices for 1998.

Emmaline is a 10 year old girl whose beloved piano teacher Cecilia Fantini dies. The girl promises never to forget her, but as the months pass, the memories fade, and Emmaline, still in pain, also feels she is disloyal to her teacher. She seeks out adults who knew Ms Fantini, and they share memories and a verse of the teacher's favorite song. Emmaline begins the healing process, and also helps those others, as she finds words for her feelings and as she develops a sense of community.

Often a child's first death experience is not of a family member but of someone else who is very important to him/her. A Song for Cecilia Fantini reminds us how important is this experience and how important for adults to remember this.

This is an exceptional and moving story. It should be recommended to every parent and be on the shelf of every pediatrician's lending library. 

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updated December 03, 1999