Childhood Vaccinations: Answers to Your Questions, 2nd Edition. Katia Bailetti, $19.95

Childhood Vaccinations: Making Informed Decisions, 2nd Edition. Katia Bailetti, $14.95 (Workbook)

This unique resource does not bias toward or against childhood vaccinations but rather guides parents in making informed decisions with relevant, current and reliable information.

Complete Idiot’s Guide to Vaccinations: a Balanced Look at the Pros and Cons. Michael Joseph & Laurie Bouck, $18.50

Complete Idiot’s Guide to Vaccinations provides information on the vaccines – and vaccine combinations – both required and recommended for children and adults. The book includes:

• A discussion of which vaccines have been questioned for medical, religious or social reasons
• An exploration of the risks involved in vaccinating and not vaccinating
• Advice on vaccinations for adults and seniors, and how long people are protected by ‘booster’ shots

Between vaccines and antibiotics, contagion and prevention, parents have lots of questions about infectious diseases. This evidence-based guide for parents explains what infections are, how they progress, and how to prevent them. Immunizations & Infectious Diseases: an Informed Parent's Guide answers such questions as:

• What immunizations does my child need?
• How safe are vaccines?
• What can I do to prevent and control infections in my child?
• When should my child take antibiotics?
• When should antibiotics be avoided?
• When is my child contagious?
• How do I keep my newborn protected?

The Everything Parent’s Guide to Vaccines. Leslie Young, $17.75

Balanced, professional advice on the types of vaccines, how they work, vaccine safety, adverse reactions, and more. This comprehensive guide allows parents to come to their own conclusions, and make the best decision for your child

Keeping Your Child Healthy in a Germ-Filled World: a Guide for Parents. Athena Kourtis, $21.95

The world is full of germs, and the news is full of stories about infectious diseases and antibiotic-resistant superbugs. Infections are harmful, but not all germs are bad. What can parents do to protect their children?

Dr. Athena Kourtis, a pediatrician and infectious disease specialist — and mother — teaches parents how to protect their kids without going overboard. She helps parents sort through the latest information about antibiotics, vaccines, hygiene, health foods, and home remedies, and she identifies which rules to follow — and which ones to ignore. She says:

• No to overprotecting your children from germs
• No to antimicrobial soaps and cleaning products at home
• No to over-prescribed antibiotics
• Yes to strategic hand washing
• Yes to being conscious of germs and the pathways they use
• Yes to vaccines

She offers tips for protecting your children wherever they are — at home or school, on the playground, while traveling — and whatever they are doing — playing sports, camping, visiting the beach — and answers questions that commonly worry parents. Reading this comprehensive, illustrated guide is the first step to keeping your family healthy. Up-to-date, accurate information and a clear understanding of how germs and our bodies work will help you and your child stay afloat in the microbial sea.

Lions Aren’t Scared of Shots: a Story for Children About Visiting the Doctor. Howard Bennett, $10.50 (ages 4-6)

Molly is worried. It's time for her doctor visit and she doesn't want to go. She likes Dr. Ryan. She just doesn't like shots! But with the help of her imagination, Molly finds her courageous inner lion right when she needs it the most.

The Panic Virus: a True Story of Medicine, Science and Fear. Seth Mnookin, $18.99

In 1998 Andrew Wakefield, a British gastroenterologist, published a paper with a shocking allegation: the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine might cause autism. The media seized hold of the story and, in the process, helped to launch one of the most devastating health scares ever. Since that time, one study after another has failed to find any link between childhood vaccines and autism. Yet the myth that vaccines somehow cause developmental disorders lives on. Despite the lack of corroborating evidence, it has been popularized by media personalities and legitimized by journalists who claim that they are just being fair to "both sides" of an issue about which there is little to debate.

In The Panic Virus, Seth Mnookin draws on interviews with parents, public-health advocates, scientists, and anti-vaccine activists to tackle a fundamental question: How do we decide what the truth is? The Panic Virus is a riveting and sometimes heart-breaking medical detective story that explores the limits of rational thought. It is the ultimate cautionary tale for our time.

As a physician trained in both standard and holistic medicine and as a parent herself, Lauren Felder offers a balanced and easy to understand discussion of the issues. With information on vaccines from infancy through adolescence as well as travel vaccination, this is a comprehensive and reassuring guide to help you make informed decisions for your child.

The Vaccine Book: Making the Right Decision for Your Child, Revised. Robert Sears, $16.50

With the recent spate of publicity surrounding the possible health risks posed by childhood immunization, parents are no longer simply following doctor's orders and automatically having their children vaccinated. Instead, they are asking questions. The problem is the search for answers only leads parents to conflicting, one-sided information. With THE VACCINE BOOK, parents have a fair, impartial, fact-based resource they can turn to for answers.

Each chapter is devoted to a disease/vaccine pair and offers a comprehensive discussion of what the disease is, how common or rare it is, how serious or harmless it is, the ingredients of the vaccine, and any possible side effects from the vaccine. Ultimately, parents will have to make their own informed decisions as Dr. Bob Sears is neither pro-vaccine nor anti-vaccine. But THE VACCINE BOOK will provide exactly the information parents want and need as they make their way through the vaccination maze.

A fascinating account of vaccination’s miraculous, inflammatory past and its uncertain future.

Vaccines and Your Child: Separating Fact from Fiction. Paul Offit & Charlotte Moser, $18.95

A straightforward look at the science of modern vaccines — how they work, how they are made and how they are tested — so parents can make informed decisions about childhood immunizations.