P O Brennan, J G Yassa, S Ludwig. (£15.95). Manson Publishing, 2001. ISBN 1-874-54546-4.

• Brennan PO
• Yassa J G
• Ludwig S. Self-assessment colour review of paediatric emergency medicine

This is a fun book to have on your shelf! This book comprises 209 picture quizzes and answers, the pictures being well illustrated, full colour plates containing a mixture of common and not so common peadiatric conditions. The contributors are international from Australia, Uganda, Birmingham and Sheffield. The pictures relate to paediatric conditions including surgical, medical, metabolic, ophthalmological and dental conditions. Some of the cases are not commonly seen in UK practice, for example the 10 year old who sustained a penile tip injury due to a gunshot wound, or another example of a child sustaining an accident due to his arm becoming trapped in a wringer!

Overall this book is well written and contains few non-English phrases; however, when they do occur they are somewhat odd. An example might be “the outlook for the testis is superior if the hernia can be manually reduced!”. However, this is to be somewhat pedantic about what is a very handy and useful book certainly for study towards MRCPCH Part II but will be of interest to all clinicians who encounter children.

I must confess to having had a thoroughly enjoyable evening simply looking through at a wide variety of different conditions some common, some rare. I think the authors have succeeded in producing a well illustrated and informative addition to paediatric emergency medicine.