Doctor Dan the Bandage Man

Having scratched his finger once, a boy becomes obsessed with applying adhesive bandages to everyone and everything around him. I think when my daughter was five, she liked using the adhesive bandages that came with the book more than actually reading it.

So in the end, it's an expensive way to buy two Band-Aids.

FOR REFERENCE:

Rated “Indifferent" in our old book database by Rod and Adelia.

This charming book was among my childhood favorites. While “playing cowboy" with his friends, little Dan skins his knee and runs crying to his mother. She cleans his cut, applies a Bandaid (tm) bandage, and pronounces him "better than new". A subsequent cut from an episode with a runaway wagon yields the same treatment.

Dan then proceeds to help his family in similar fashion. Little sister's Dolly falls and gets a bump, and Dan fixes her up with a Bandaid (tm). Sis searches hard and finds an old scratch on her leg, which Doctor Dan proceeds to bandage as well. The dog hurts its paw -- another Bandaid (tm). The climax of the tale comes when Dad, while mowing the lawn, apparently nicks his finger (there's no blood, and adult readers may show more wonder at the fortuitous timing of the alleged injury). Dan comes to the rescue with yet another Bandaid (tm). Clearly, with Doctor Dan on hand, this accident- prone family has little to worry about. And since the book was supplied with ~12 little taupe - colored Bandaids (tm) (as a brilliant product placement for the 1950s), little taupe - colored middle class boys were encouraged to practice their own form of home medicine. From this experience, just maybe they'd grow up to be real doctors, instead of mere biologists or (worse still) attorneys.

As one of the all time best - sellers of the Golden Book series, Doctor Dan the Bandage Man is still in print after half a century. True, the number of complimentary Bandaids (tm) has diminished with inflation (one recent edition proclaims in excitement that it comes “with two real plastic bandages!”). However, the story itself remains sweet and heart-warming.

Nevertheless, according to some alarmed reviewers at Amazon.com, parents may want to think twice before exposing hapless children to its nefarious values and traditional gender roles. After all, little Dan is playing "cowboy" with actual toy guns (one must hope that Native Americans weren’t the intended targets, and that any captured bank robbers were to be turned over to a court of law after being informed of their legal rights). In the story, Mom clearly has no job outside the home. What’s more, she scolds little Dan for his tears, instead of encouraging him to express his feelings -- no doubt setting him up for a lifetime of dysfunctional relationships and counseling sessions. Dad is no role model either -- faking an injury for the sake of sympathy, and encouraging his own son to practice medicine without a license. And what’s up with Dad’s lawnmower -- who ever heard of one that you had to actually push around the yard?

Somehow, I think that boys and girls born in the 21st century can read Doctor Dan and emerge unscathed. Who knows, they might even come to view health care as a fundamental human right, rather than a resource limited by the handful of available Bandaids (tm). show less

This is a great story of a boy who gets help from his father then passes it on th others when they get hurt. Readers easily relate to the story and can compare themselves with Dan and the other children that may need help when they get a scraped knee.

This book is about a little boy who hurt his finger in a cowboy fight in his back yard. His mommy took him in and cleaned the cut and put a bandaid on it. The next day his little sister's baby doll had a boo-boo and little Dan knew just what to do. He doctored her up by cleaning it and puting a bandaid on it. He also fixed the dog and his dad.

dan scratched his finger on a toy gun. he went to his mom so she could clean his wound. he shows his friends his bandage. dan and his friends were playing and had the wagon getting pulled by spotty, the dog. spotty ran and the baby inside of the wagon fell out. dan said the baby doll had a bump on her head so he cleaned the wound and put bandages on her head. dans little sister and spotty wanted bandages too. dad cut his finger and dan applied a bandage. dad made a new name for dan, Dr. dan the bandage man.

ages- 3-5
source- pierce county library

Doctor Dan learns from his mother about how to take care of a scratch and then he takes care of his little sister when she gets hurt. Dan shows kids reading the book that scratches will be alright; you simply doctor yourself up and you're good as new!

In this story, a little boy got hurt while playing outside with some friends and then his mother helped him by telling him he was okay while bandaging his finger. Throughout the story, everyone admires his bandage and asks for one too. He helps his sister, her doll, their puppy and his father.
Age: 3-7
Source: Pierce Library