---
title: "Melanie's Marvelous Measles"
chunk: 1/3
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melanie's_Marvelous_Measles"
category: "reference"
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
date_saved: "2026-05-05T03:37:45.381716+00:00"
instance: "kb-cron"
---

Melanie's Marvelous Measles is a self-published children's book written by Australian author and anti-vaccine activist Stephanie Messenger. Through its story, the book claims, contrary to scientific data, that contracting measles is beneficial to health, and that vaccines are ineffective.
The book was first published in 2012, but came to attention in 2015 following a measles outbreak that began at Disneyland during December of the previous year. Many commentators have criticised the book because of the dangers associated with contracting measles, and because its title is reminiscent of George's Marvellous Medicine, by Roald Dahl, who was a prominent advocate of vaccination in his later years, following the death of his daughter Olivia from measles in 1962. The book has also received attention for the numerous negative, often sarcastic, reviews it has received on Amazon.com.

== Premise and plot ==
The book contends that contracting measles is beneficial for children, with the book's product description describing the disease as "quite benign" and "beneficial to the body".

Melanie's Marvelous Measles was written 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 industrialised countries, these diseases are quite benign and, according to natural health sources, beneficial to the body.
In the story, a girl named Tina, who has never been vaccinated, returns to school after the winter break and discovers that her friend Melanie is at home with measles. Tina's mother encourages Tina to visit Melanie, because catching measles would be a good thing for Tina. Tina tells her mother that the other children are frightened of getting measles, but her mother reassures her by explaining that catching measles is a good thing for most children: "Many wise people believe measles make the body stronger and more mature for the future". She suggests some carrot juice and melon might help Melanie recover. She says that being scared of the disease is "a bit like being scared of the dark". Her mother explains that Tina has not been vaccinated because her older brother got sick after receiving his vaccinations. Melanie's mother explains that Melanie had been vaccinated against measles and it did not work; the doctor said that Melanie's measles were the worst case he had ever seen. Melanie explains to Tina that the spots do not hurt or itch, and shows Tina her spotty tummy. The two girls spend the day playing together and end the day with a hug. A week later Tina is back to school, without measles. Her mother attributes this to her eating the right foods, playing in the fresh air and drinking much water. Jared, a vaccinated boy, ends up being the one that gets measles; Tina's mother blames this on his bad eating habits and "the accompanying image is of an annoyed Jared laying in bed covered in spots with a hamburger, chips (labeled 'MSG-enriched, GM-full'), ... soda, cupcake, chocolate bar on his bedside table".
The book also criticizes childhood vaccines as ineffective, and Messenger states in the book that she has raised three children "vaccine-free and childhood disease-free".