Books About Illness & Hospital Visits
Stories about being sick, going to the hospital, and caring for loved ones with illness.
81 books
This collection of 81 books about illness & hospital visits spans Grade 1–10. Reading level alone doesn't tell parents whether a book is right for a child — text difficulty and emotional weight grow at different rates, especially for strong, twice-exceptional, or sensitive readers. HootRated rates every book on this list for both, so you can match to your child's actual readiness on both axes.
Across this list, 26% of the titles are rated Gentle or Mild — appropriate for sensitive readers or kids reading ahead of their emotional comfort zone. 28% are rated Intense or Very Intense, with heavier thematic territory for readers ready to tackle weighty subjects. Average content intensity for the list is 3/5.
Use the intensity badges (color-coded green → red) to filter by emotional readiness rather than just age. For more on what each intensity level means, see our rating methodology.
Frozen
Elle D. Risco
Pirates!
Jane E. Gerver
Hat Parade
Sally Rippin
Gymnastics
Kara L. Laughlin
Little fish
Ralph Moisa
Lucky
Jane E. Gerver
Green Lantern
Matthew K. Manning
Horrible Harry and the Christmas surprise
Suzy Kline
Karen's wish
Ann M. Martin
My trip to the hospital
Mercer Mayer
Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes
Eleanor Coerr
World History Biographies: Anne Frank
Ann Kramer
Karen's turkey day
Ann M. Martin
Party!
Diana G. Gallagher
Serafina's promise
Ann E. Burg
Hurricane Katrina
Thomas K. Adamson
Balto of the Blue Dawn (Magic Tree House (R) Merlin Mission)
Mary Pope Osborne
Sun
Julie K. Lundgren
Penguins
Emilie U. Lepthien
Laura Ingalls Wilder
Christi E. Parker
Constellations
Marcia Zappa
John Adams
Jane H. Gould
Grave shadows
Jerry B. Jenkins
Harriet Tubman
Monica Rausch
North Carolina
Patricia K. Kummer
Boy Who Didn't Want to Die
Peter Lantos
Brazil
David C. King
Left behind
Jerry B. Jenkins
Littsie of Cincinnati
Jinny Powers Berten, Norah Holt
Living With Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis (Living Well Chronic Conditions)
Susan H. Gray
My America: My Brother's Keeper
Mary Pope Osborne, Katy Burkett, Ann McGovern, Patricia MacLachlan, Eva Moore, Anne Capeci, Jennifer Johnston, Rebecca Carmi, Ann Schreiber, Jerry Pallotta, Joanna Cole, Kathryn Lasky, Deborah Heiligman, Gail Gibbons, Barbara Kerley, Marilyn Burns
Prairie songs
Pam Conrad
The Big Question
John R. Erickson
Wolves
Heather C. Hudak
Have I found a gold mine?
Priscilla Galloway
Black Sunday Dust Blizzard
Bruce Berglund
Understanding Issues - Smoking (Understanding Issues)
Gail B. Stewart
Dust of the earth
Donna L. Hess
I Survived the Dust Bowl, 1935 (I Survived #25)
Lauren Tarshis
Light
Ian F. Mahaney
MLB
B. Keith Davidson
The Blackbird Girls
Living With Cystic Fibrosis (Living Well Chronic Conditions)
Susan Heinrichs Gray
Wilma Rudolph
Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara
Surviving the Ice
Kristin J. Russo
Before Franklin D. Roosevelt Was President
Michael Rajczak
Escape to Masada
Jerry B. Jenkins
The Curse of the Romany wolves
S. Jones Rogan
12 Worst Health Disasters of All Time
Susan E. Hamen
If I die before I wake
Jean Little
Pollyanna
Eleanor Hodgman Porter
Chocolate
Samuel G. Woods
Eagles
E. Melanie Watt
On Top Of Concord Hill
Maria D. Wilkes
Apollo 13
Michael D. Cole
John Adams
Stuart A. Kallen
Grand Canyon
Linda Vieira
Pearl Harbor
Tamara L. Britton
The Blazing Star
Erin Hunter
Bill Nye
Tamra B Orr
Feed the Children First
Mary E. Lyons
Cancer
Dennis B. Fradin
Who Was Isaac Newton?
Janet B. Pascal
Antibiotics
Tamra Orr
Heck
Dale E. Basye
Little Cricket
Jackie Brown
Simone Biles
Heather E. Schwartz
Storytellers
Laurisa White Reyes
The pull of gravity
Gae Polisner
Gulliver's travels
Jonathan Swift
People with AIDS
Gail Stewart
Alexandra Scott
Gail B. Stewart
John McCain
Heather E. Schwartz
Ski soldier
Louise Borden
Sports great Magic Johnson
James Haskins
Edith Bolling Galt Wilson, 1872-1961
Alice K. Flanagan
History of art criticism
Lionello Venturi
Space Launch Disaster
Michael D. Cole
Australia
Jean F. Blashfield
The Dust Bowl
Sue Vander Hook
Coping with hereditary diseases
Marian B. Jacobs
For teens (ages 13+)
26 more books on this list are written for readers 13 and up. A few of them:
Made for each other
Paul D. Storrie
Made for each other
Paul D. Storrie
The Good Braider
Terry Farish
The Good Braider
Terry Farish
What's left of me
Kat Zhang
What's left of me
Kat Zhang
Scum
James C. Dekker
Scum
James C. Dekker
Forgotten
Patricia H. Rushford
Forgotten
Patricia H. Rushford
The Fox Inheritance
Mary Pearson
The Fox Inheritance
Mary Pearson
We Were Liars
E. Lockhart
We Were Liars
E. Lockhart
Deep Freeze
Kristin F. Johnson
Deep Freeze
Kristin F. Johnson
The Heaven Shop
Deborah Ellis
The Heaven Shop
Deborah Ellis
What Janie found
Caroline B. Cooney
What Janie found
Caroline B. Cooney
Devils unto dust
Emma Berquist
Devils unto dust
Emma Berquist
Prince across the water
Jane Yolen
Prince across the water
Jane Yolen
The sleeping prince
Melinda Salisbury
The sleeping prince
Melinda Salisbury
Opioids and Their Dangers
Susan E. Hamen
Opioids and Their Dangers
Susan E. Hamen
COVID-19 Virus
Walt K. Moon
COVID-19 Virus
Walt K. Moon
Past Pandemics and COVID-19
Walt K. Moon
Past Pandemics and COVID-19
Walt K. Moon
Her dark curiosity
Megan Shepherd
Her dark curiosity
Megan Shepherd
The Legacy
Lurlene Mcdaniel
The Legacy
Lurlene Mcdaniel
Unbroken
Laura Hillenbrand
Unbroken
Laura Hillenbrand
Hard time
Julian F. Thompson
Hard time
Julian F. Thompson
Little Red Lies
Julie Johnston
Little Red Lies
Julie Johnston
HIV infection
Kenneth L. Packer
HIV infection
Kenneth L. Packer
Christopher Reeve
Margaret L. Finn
Christopher Reeve
Margaret L. Finn
Australia
John F. Grabowski
Australia
John F. Grabowski
Questions parents ask about this list
- What's on this books about illness & hospital visits list?
- Books About Illness & Hospital Visits contains 81 books spanning Grade 1–10. Stories about being sick, going to the hospital, and caring for loved ones with illness. Every book on the list is rated for reading level and content intensity so you can pick what matches your child.
- What age range is appropriate for this list?
- Books on this list span Grade 1–10. 21 (26%) are rated Gentle or Mild; 23 (28%) are rated Intense or Very Intense. Average intensity is 3/5. Match the intensity badge to your child's emotional readiness.
- How is this list curated?
- HootRated rates every book on this list for both reading level (text difficulty) and content intensity (emotional weight) — the two axes parents need to choose books. See our methodology for how books make a curated list.