Educational pajama party

A pajama party held at Flushing Hospital Medical Center on Friday, February 29 educated children about Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) through the book “Busy Body Bonita.”
The children’s book was written by Tolya Thompson, who used to work as a physician assistant at Flushing Hospital. This is the fifth book that she has written for children that focuses on health issues that affect them.
The concept for these books first came about when Thompson was in college and working on using microorganisms for environmental clean-up. She said that as part of her scholarship she had to write about the work for young readers, since it was believed it would be easier to change a child’s habits. When she completed her medical training, Thompson then began incorporating medicine into her children’s stories.
Thompson’s first book was “Loud Lips Lucy,” which was published in 2002.
During the Flushing Hospital pajama party, children received autographed copies of “Busy Body Bonita,” which Thompson also read to them.
“It’s very nice to see a positive book from a child’s perspective,” said Dr. Kanchana Roychoudhury, a Flushing Hospital pediatrician who specializes in ADHD. “We need more books like this out there.”
Bayside resident Rosemary Pope, who attended the party with her seven-year-old daughter Naomi, said that this was a very personal topic for her family, being that Naomi was diagnosed with ADHD in November. She said that she wanted her daughter to get a book that she would be able to relate to.
“I think it’s fabulous,” Pope said. “It’s a total mirror of a child that has this situation but it’s comical. I love the illustrations.”
Naomi said, “I like it. It’s funny.”
Thompson said that the two main goals of her books are to address literacy and health issues.
“If we increase literacy skills we know that we can decrease poor health,” she said.
Following the reading, Roychoudhury held a discussion about ADHD and answered questions that parents had.
The pajama party was also attended by Assemblymember Ellen Young and Councilmember John Liu.
Thompson said that the most rewarding part of her work is seeing the children’s faces as she reads to them and seeing them read along with her.
“They know the story, they know the characters,” said Thomson, who now lives in California and works in emergency medicine. “Then you know that you’re really touching them and they’re learning from what you’re putting out there.”
For more information on Thompson and her books, visit www.savorpublishing.com.