Although eczema is common, many children who grow up with it may feel alone and isolated, and resist the application of topical treatments that will help treat their symptoms. We also know that parents/ carers of children with eczema employ a variety of tactics to engage them in the use of creams and ointments — some more sustainable than others.1
So how might a children’s book about a Tyrannosaurus Rex with eczema help? In this book, Rosie Wellesley, a GP, writer/ illustrator, and parent of a child with eczema, has used her combined talents and experience to write this short and colourful story about how eczema can disturb sleep and make people feel miserable, yet be improved using creams, in this case supplied by a platypus called Doc Bill.
The illustrations are bright and attractive and we, as fellow parent of/older child with eczema, liked the dinosaur characters and the wordplay (T-Rex-cema, for example). The book also introduces distraction as a technique to break the itch–scratch cycle. One can nitpick over some of the detail (perhaps Doc Bill could have offered lotions, gel, or ointment instead of creams, for instance) and the story fills a niche but is unlikely to be sought out by parents of children without eczema.
Overall, it’s a welcome and professionally produced resource to be able to signpost parents to, as part of the more specific support that primary care can offer families affected by this condition.
- © British Journal of General Practice 2018