Before Tom got ill, he suggested “Froggy’s Little Brother”, by Brenda.
I’m afraid several of the books that my friends suggested are not entirely about getting better. First Froggy’s mother dies. And then his little brother doesn’t exactly get better.
I recommend “Dombey and Son”, by Charles Dickens. Not all of it, but he is very good at describing illness.
But little Paul doesn’t get better either.
I shan’t tell you whether Winny gets better, because that would spoil the story.
She’s in “Tell me a Story”, by Mary Louise Molesworth.
I’m glad to say that in “Ice Cream in Bed” by Helen Morgan, Mary Kate definitely does get better. Bimbo recommended this book, because he says that when he was in the pop-up Kanga Hospital with The Virus, and beginning to be able to eat again, ice cream was the only thing he could manage. It was very soothing for his sore throat.
In “Madeline” by Ludwig Bemelmans there is also a speedy recovery, and a surprise, after a panic at first, when little Madeline wakes everyone in the night by crying and crying (her eyes were red).
You can watch someone reading the book here:
In “Marianne Dreams”, by Catherine Storr, Marianne falls ill on her birthday and has to stay in bed for weeks. She gets to know another child, Mark, who is recovering from polio.
Lopsy suggested this because she likes scary books. But Teddy won’t have it in the house. He says it gives him nightmares.
Monkey says that “One Two Three with Ant and Bee”, by Angela Bannerman, is his favourite book. He likes the bit where Ant is tired of being ill in bed.
Jenny reads very long books. She chose “The Daisy Chain, or Aspirations”, by Charlotte Yonge. It’s about a family of thirteen children. The eldest one is ill in bed for most of the book, transacting all the petty cares of the large household.
“The Story of Cruel Frederick” by Heinrich Hoffmann is not very happy. But I think Frederick will get better, and while he’s ill in bed, the good dog Tray has a happy time eating all the food that Frederick is too ill for.
Didcot points out that there’s a useful tip in “Stumps” by Stella Austin: Don’t ask the invalid to try to stand on their head. Alick has been ill for a long time. Thanks to a strengthening diet of anything that he fancies to eat, he is gradually getting better. But when Bertie encourages him to stand on his head, he faints, and his recovery is set back. I’m glad to say he is quite well by the end of the book.
This book is full of tasty food. For the first meal in the book, they eat “white bread-and-butter, brown bread-and-butter, hot biscuits, so crisp that they almost break before you touch them, plum cake, white currants, red currants, shortbread, oat-cake, marmalade – and a large glass dish filled with strawberry jam”. No wonder Alick gets better.
Gibbs recommends “What Katy Did”. He says it gives plenty of advice on how to be a good invalid.
The eponymous Katy is stuck in bed after a serious spinal injury, and has to start attending the School of Pain, where she learns All Sorts of Beautiful things: Patience, Cheerfulness, Making the Best of Things, Hopefulness, and Neatness, because a sick person ought to be as fresh and dainty as a rose.
I suppose it is better if a sick person isn’t too repulsive, and hopefulness is always handy. And it’s nice that being good can cure a spinal injury. Of course that sort of thing often happens with furry people, but I’ve not heard of its happening with humans.
Another book where positive thinking brings about a cure is “The Secret Garden” by Frances Hodgson Burnett.
But perhaps that’s because the illness wasn’t a very physical one to start with.
I believe the NHS also recommends skipping, gardening, and fresh outdoor air, for improving health.