Australian anti-vaxxer Stephanie Messenger self-published her children’s book “Melanie’s Marvelous Measles” in 2012. Pretty catchy title, right?
The book’s purpose is to “educate children on the benefits of having measles and how you can heal from them naturally and successfully.”
“Often today, we are being bombarded with messages from vested interests to fear all diseases in order for someone to sell some potion or vaccine, when, in fact, history shows that in industrialized countries, these diseases are quite benign and, according to natural health sources, beneficial to the body,” Messenger writes in her Amazon bio.
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Anybody have a problem with this? With 1,134 customer reviews on Amazon so far, people clearly have something to say about how marvelous Melanie’s measles really are. Here are some highlights:
“Don’t overlook the lesser known Dr. Seuss books in this series – ‘Horton hears an air raid siren’, ‘Oh the places you’ll itch’, ‘How the Grinch caught Chlamydia’, ‘And to Think That I Contracted It on Mulberry Street’, ‘Skull Fracture Mayzie’, ‘Hop on your remaining foot’, ‘The 500 days in ICU of Bartholomew Cubbins’, and ‘If I Ran the Mortuary.’” –Nathaniel E. Parkinson II
“Encephalitis is just your brain giving your skull a cuddle. This book is so short because soon after the main character succumbs to subacute sclerosing panencephalitis and dies.” –Rachel “Wednesday”
“Finally! A children’s book with an agenda I can get behind! I always thought I loved kids until I actually had one of my own and boy was I wrong! I researched anything and everything I could possibly do to get rid of the little brat, but I didn’t want to be arrested for murder and childhood cancer is just too darn unpredictable. Fortunately, I stumbled upon ‘Melanie’s Marvelous Measles’, and learned that there is a huge community of people who hate children as much as me! Thanks to Melanie, I was able to ignore my pediatrician’s recommendations to vaccinate my daughter before our trip to Disney World, all while acting like I want what is ‘best’ for my child.” –brittany
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“Google image “measles” for a GREAT extra set of illustrations as you read along! While watching Melanie chase rainbows in her parents’ Beverly Hills garden, you can journey along with the millions of kids getting marvelous measles in the areas of the world without the luxury of herd immunity from that oh-so-terrible vaccine! Then you can see into the future of what your grandkids will be enjoying, as you continue to encourage others to reject vaccines that hold back the prevalence of viruses in the population. Gotta say, it’s a great time to study medicine in the USA – we get first-hand experience treating diseases that we’d have to travel to the third world to see. Thanks so much, Stephanie!” –Lyra
Reviewer Michael J. Gogulski had some pretty creative ideas for follow up books as well, in fact he posted multiple titles covering nearly each letter of the alphabet. Here are a few:
Annette’s Astonishing Aneurysm, Bella’s Beloved Bell’s Palsy, Emma’s Exalted Emphysema, Larry’s Lovely Lymphoma, Ricky’s Rockin’ Rickets, Sir Sergio’s Serene Cirrhosis, or Xavier’s Exemplary Exencephaly. (The list is pretty impressive.)
Not every review was funny (if that’s the right word), though.
“My infant daughter went blind after contracting measles from an unvaccinated child, and yet there’s no braille version of this wonderful book for me to give her someday to explain to her how awesome the disease that took her sight away is” –Seabisquick
