IJCS | Volume 33, Nº2, March / April 2020

DOI: https://doi.org/10.36660/ijcs.20190143 Abstract José Saramago, Nobel Prize in Literature, is the author of a statement that provokes adult readers: “What if children’s stories become mandatory reading for adults? Would they really learn what they’ve been teaching for so long?”. 1 It is in this context that literary texts dedicated to children have been used at times in medical education and clinical practice to bring up often invisible subjectivities. Introduction The scope of children’s literature has exceeded the recommended age groups, and it is now accepted that the same book can be appreciatedbydifferent ages, depending on readers’ demands and needs of each reader. Supported by the Narrative Medicine reports, 2-4 the possibility of using the so-called children’s literature has been investigated as a tool in the approach of topics related to medical practice. The heart, for example, has often been addressed in children’s literature. It is almost always presented as an organ linked to tenderness, benevolence and care, often tending to a certain stereotype. In this article, we intend to present four children’s books, selected by the way in which they present the heart. We believe they can be used by both undergraduate medical students and health professionals, as support for multidisciplinary teams. The following books will be approached: Daddy’s heart is outside the compass, 5 Hearts to millions, 6 The man’s heart of popp 7 and The heart and the bottle. 8 In Daddy’s heart is outside the compass , the mother’s heart that “beats quiet and constant” is a safe place for the boy trembling for fear of the storm. The father, carrying a laptop and a cell phone, complained of a burning feeling on the left side of his chest, and of pain going down to the left hand. The mother then calls an ambulance and an examination is made: “ten cables coming out from the device... six cables placed on the chest, around the heart, and four in the arms and legs” – an electrocardiogram (“This strip of paper with zigzag lines is called electrocardiogram”). The doctor gives the diagnosis: “Unfortunately, you have suffered a heart attack,” and the treatment has already begun: “We need to inject it directly into the blood, so it can be quickly effective”, explains the doctor. While the mother cries, Joaquim realizes that his father’s heart is also beating fast. “I think he is sad” (the heart, but also the father), thought Joaquim. In the hospital, the mother explains to Joaquim that “Daddy’s heart no longer jumps with joy to live. They are both sad.” But even with the boy’s effort, the father doesn’t smile. One week after hospital discharge, the father exercises on a stationary bike and starts a healthy diet composed of vegetables and fruits, despite his preference for juicy roast pork. During a walk with his dad, Joaquim, feeling him very sad and distant, approached him by asking childish questions: “Does the goldfinch have a heart too?”, “Can birds suffer a heart attack too?” For the first time since the heart attack, the father smiles with the boy’s innocence. The book ends when, after a walk in the rain, the father feels touched when his son snuggles up to him and says “I’m hearing your heart beats.” A tear falls from his father’s eye. He starts a conversation with Joaquim about the heartbeats, the joy and sorrow in life. Joaquim is the center of the book, and the only character with a proper name. His father and mother are presented to highlight the repercussions of the situation for the boy. Despite the 185 VIEWPOINT International Journal of Cardiovascular Sciences. 2020; 33(2):185-187 Mailing Address: Ana Mallet Avenida Presidente Vargas, 642. Postal Code: 22230-010, Rio de Janeiro, RJ – Brazil. E-mail: alr.mallet@gmail.com A Different Heart in Children´s Literature: The Juvenile Literature in Medical Education Ana Mallet, 1, 2 F átima Geovanini, 1 Luciana Andrade, 1 D avid Kestenberg 1 Universidade Estácio de Sá, 1 Rio de Janeiro, RJ – Brazil Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, 2 Rio de Janeiro, RJ – Brazil Manuscript received August 13, 2019; revised manuscript October 16, 2019; accepted November 03, 2019. Juvenile Literature; Education Medical; Heart. Keywords