Anti-vaccination children's book attracts sarcastic, angry Amazon reviews
Author Stephanie Messenger has spurred Amazon’s latest comment frenzy with her children’s book, Melanie’s Marvelous Measles. The book was published 2012—but the recent outbreak of the illness in the United States has drawn new attention to it. Now Melanie’s Marvelous Measles is receiving a mix of angry and sardonic comments by Amazon users.
A note from the author on the book’s Amazon page says it was written to “educate children on the benefits of having measles” and how they can successfully heal from the disease naturally. But that’s not the way most reviewers have viewed it, giving the book more than 1,000 1-star ratings and leaving comments such as, “The best book I have read since ‘Infant Car Seats Are For Sissies.’”
Some of the other mocking comments include:
“As a carpenter who specializes in itty bitty coffins I can’t say enough good things about this book, my customer base has been growing at an epidemic rate!”
“Wow! I will have to buy this for my Dad. He and my uncle had Polio as toddlers and both were left with permanent disabilities. Now, in their golden years, they get to suffer from Post-Polio Syndrome as an added bonus! Preventable diseases truly are “marvelous” – just ask my Dad!”
“Wonder how many kids are spreading measles in Heaven now because their parents got them this book instead of a vaccination.”
“Looking forward to the follow up – Melanie’s Mommy’s Maladaptive Reasoning Skills.”
“This was a brilliant tome about the joys of having a disease that can not only kill you, but infect and kill all your friends. Clearly a heartwarming tale of the joys of undoing decades of public health progress in the name of ignorance. Unfortunately, I’ve had to wait too long for the author to write the eagerly anticipated sequel, Melanie’s Miraculous MRSA, where Melanie celebrates all that is wonderful about dying of antibiotic-resistant infections, so I can only give it one star.”
“I hear (or rather i would if measles hadn’t made me deaf) her next books “How to blunt sharp things with your genitals” and “Cooking with Mercury and other heavy metals” are going to be a hit.”
“My children may be deaf, blind, and pockmarked all over their bodies, but at least we didn’t give money to Big Pharma!”
One review even sarcastically suggested an A-to-Z list of fictional books with similar names, including Annie’s Awesome Asthma, Chuck’s Champion Chickenpox, and Leroy’s Lavish Leprosy.