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Doctor at Heart
A01=Joan Schoettler
A12=Steffi Walthall
Author_Joan Schoettler
Author_Steffi Walthall
biography
blood
blue baby syndrome
breakthrough
cardiac surgeon
Category=YFX
Category=YNMH
Category=YNTD
college
creative
dedication
development
eq_bestseller
eq_childrens
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_nobargain
eq_teenage-young-adult
experiments
forthcoming
grit
groundbreaking
heart
Johns Hopkins Hospital
lab
lungs
meticulous
nonfiction
oxygen
partnership
passion
perseverance
research
science
scientist
STEM
surgeon
teacher
Vanderbilt University
Vivien Thomas
Product details
- ISBN 9781481476669
- Dimensions: 279 x 241mm
- Publication Date: 21 May 2026
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Hardback
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A fascinating and inspiring picture book biography about Vivien Thomas, a pioneer of children’s heart surgery and trailblazer for Black people in STEM.
Vivien Thomas always loved solving problems and figuring out how things worked. In high school, inspired by his family physician, he decided he would become a doctor. Despite losing his college savings during the 1930 bank panic, Vivien stayed dedicated to making his dream a reality, a trait that would serve him all his life.
Vivien secured a lab assistant position at Vanderbilt University and later moved to Johns Hopkins Hospital, where he and his mentor developed a groundbreaking procedure to cure blue baby syndrome, which led to them performing the first open-heart surgery on a child.
With the power of his passion, perseverance, and dedication to learning (and without any formal college education), Vivien saved thousands of lives.
Vivien Thomas always loved solving problems and figuring out how things worked. In high school, inspired by his family physician, he decided he would become a doctor. Despite losing his college savings during the 1930 bank panic, Vivien stayed dedicated to making his dream a reality, a trait that would serve him all his life.
Vivien secured a lab assistant position at Vanderbilt University and later moved to Johns Hopkins Hospital, where he and his mentor developed a groundbreaking procedure to cure blue baby syndrome, which led to them performing the first open-heart surgery on a child.
With the power of his passion, perseverance, and dedication to learning (and without any formal college education), Vivien saved thousands of lives.
Joan Schoettler is a children’s author and professor of children’s literature and storytelling at California State University, Fresno. Her book The Honey Jar won the Gold Medal for Juvenile Books at the 2024 California Book Awards and was a 2024 Bank Street College Best Children’s Book of the Year. Joan lives in central California with her husband. Visit her at JoanSchoettler.com.
Steffi Walthall is an illustrator and character designer born and raised in Virginia. She received her BFA in Game Development from the Savannah College of Art & Design (SCAD). Steffi focuses on crafting a diverse range of characters and unique stories and is the illustrator of Joan Schoettler’s A Doctor at Heart, Chris Barton’s Moving Forward, and J.E. Bright’s Wonder Woman: The Way of the Amazons. For more information about Steffi, please visit SteffiWalthallArt.com.
Steffi Walthall is an illustrator and character designer born and raised in Virginia. She received her BFA in Game Development from the Savannah College of Art & Design (SCAD). Steffi focuses on crafting a diverse range of characters and unique stories and is the illustrator of Joan Schoettler’s A Doctor at Heart, Chris Barton’s Moving Forward, and J.E. Bright’s Wonder Woman: The Way of the Amazons. For more information about Steffi, please visit SteffiWalthallArt.com.
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