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Our Mom Has Cancer
A humorous, honest, and hopeful account of the year that Abigail and Adrienne's mother underwent treatment for breast cancer.
32 pages, Hardcover
First published December 1, 2000
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
July 3, 2025
Ahhh .... ummm .... yeeeeaaaahhhhhh ....
Okay, so I was curious about what a children's book on cancer would be like that didn't involve making a thousand paper cranes.
The authors were two kids whose mother got breast cancer. Not a lot of Pulitzer Prize winners are 9 and 11 years old, for a good reason.
Most kids that age just can't write very well. Stories present questions that need to be answered. These questions are just not answered here, such as:
* Don't these kids have chores to do in order to make life easier for Mom to deal with her cancer?
* Why is losing hair considered the worst thing about breast cancer?
* Did the Mom survive? The story stops pretty abruptly.
The kids apparently found Mom's cancer to be one big fun-fest. Their parents' friends brought over dinners that tasted better than what Mom cooked before she got cancer. They spent more time at other people's homes when Mom was at her worst. People sent tons of get well cards. The kids participate in Mom's physical therapy. The emphasis is on fun for the kids.
Okay -- reality check. Cancer is in no way fun, for the cancer patient or the cancer patient's family members. This is a tension-filled, tearful and extremely frightening time. You're too scared to eat. How do I know? Because my Mom was diagnosed with ovarian cancer when I was a freshman in college. She got cancer from Johnson & Johnson's baby talcum powder. Thankfully, the cancer was caught in time and never spread, but we didn't know that back in November of 1987.
It was a horrible time. Nothing fun about it.
The publisher of this book was the American Cancer Society. Yet another reason I'll never donate to the American Cancer Society.
Okay, so I was curious about what a children's book on cancer would be like that didn't involve making a thousand paper cranes.
The authors were two kids whose mother got breast cancer. Not a lot of Pulitzer Prize winners are 9 and 11 years old, for a good reason.
Most kids that age just can't write very well. Stories present questions that need to be answered. These questions are just not answered here, such as:
* Don't these kids have chores to do in order to make life easier for Mom to deal with her cancer?
* Why is losing hair considered the worst thing about breast cancer?
* Did the Mom survive? The story stops pretty abruptly.
The kids apparently found Mom's cancer to be one big fun-fest. Their parents' friends brought over dinners that tasted better than what Mom cooked before she got cancer. They spent more time at other people's homes when Mom was at her worst. People sent tons of get well cards. The kids participate in Mom's physical therapy. The emphasis is on fun for the kids.
Okay -- reality check. Cancer is in no way fun, for the cancer patient or the cancer patient's family members. This is a tension-filled, tearful and extremely frightening time. You're too scared to eat. How do I know? Because my Mom was diagnosed with ovarian cancer when I was a freshman in college. She got cancer from Johnson & Johnson's baby talcum powder. Thankfully, the cancer was caught in time and never spread, but we didn't know that back in November of 1987.
It was a horrible time. Nothing fun about it.
The publisher of this book was the American Cancer Society. Yet another reason I'll never donate to the American Cancer Society.
January 28, 2020
It's just too hard to get past the illustrations. :-/ It's also for older readers, maybe 3rd grade and up- doesn't work for my purposes.
November 6, 2025
This book is good to read to students to help them understand cancer and to be mindful of what others may be going through in life.
December 2, 2008
My Nomination for Olivia's Award
Level: Late Early/Early transitional
Genre: Picture book (illustrated and written by children)
Curricular Use: Independent reading
Topics: Parent with cancer. Family sticking together in hard times as well as good times
Social: Neighbors helping when a family in the neighborhood is going through tough times, people sticking together and caring for one another, the value of family
Literary Elements: Songs, kid language and voice (because it was written by children for children)
Strong connection between the pictures and the text (the pictures really reflect the story through a child's point of view, the picture really show the reader how cancer is viewed through the eyes of a child)
Level: Late Early/Early transitional
Genre: Picture book (illustrated and written by children)
Curricular Use: Independent reading
Topics: Parent with cancer. Family sticking together in hard times as well as good times
Social: Neighbors helping when a family in the neighborhood is going through tough times, people sticking together and caring for one another, the value of family
Literary Elements: Songs, kid language and voice (because it was written by children for children)
Strong connection between the pictures and the text (the pictures really reflect the story through a child's point of view, the picture really show the reader how cancer is viewed through the eyes of a child)
October 13, 2008
Genre: Illustrated children's book
Reading Level: Late early
Topics & Themes: Parent with cancer. Family
Curricular Use: Independent reading
Social: Neighbors helping family cope with illness
Literary Elements: Written by children for children. Strong voice and viewpoint from child of a parent with cancer. Multiple genres include songs
Text & Pictures: Interaction. The authors also illustrated the text and drew the important parts of the text to let the reader further understand the significance of the text
Reading Level: Late early
Topics & Themes: Parent with cancer. Family
Curricular Use: Independent reading
Social: Neighbors helping family cope with illness
Literary Elements: Written by children for children. Strong voice and viewpoint from child of a parent with cancer. Multiple genres include songs
Text & Pictures: Interaction. The authors also illustrated the text and drew the important parts of the text to let the reader further understand the significance of the text
March 2, 2009
Reading level-2-4
Genre- Picture book
Topic-parents with cancer
Social-community coming together to help one another out in hard times
Curricula Use-independent reading
Literary Elements-songs, written for children
Text and pictures-pictures help to reflect the story through a child's point of view. Shows how cancer is viewed through a child's eyes.
Summary-This is a positive book about two sisters Abigail and Adrienne whose mom has cancer. It shows a strong community coming together to help a family deal with their moms cancer, treatments, surgery and radiation.
Genre- Picture book
Topic-parents with cancer
Social-community coming together to help one another out in hard times
Curricula Use-independent reading
Literary Elements-songs, written for children
Text and pictures-pictures help to reflect the story through a child's point of view. Shows how cancer is viewed through a child's eyes.
Summary-This is a positive book about two sisters Abigail and Adrienne whose mom has cancer. It shows a strong community coming together to help a family deal with their moms cancer, treatments, surgery and radiation.
April 15, 2011
I truly enjoyed reading this book because I was touched by the realistic and true descriptions provided by two young girls. The two girls explain the way they felt when they heard the their mom has cancer. By the end of their mom's treatment, they learned that they were greatful for the closeness their family had experienced through such a rough time. This would be a good read for students who may be coping with a loved one who has cancer.
October 13, 2008
Our Mom Has Cancer is a picture book that would be good for a read aloud. In this book, Adrienne and Abigail's mother has cancer. The two sisters were scared and tried to find books that would explain what would happen to their mom. They decide to write a book themselves. An issue that you would find in this book is a family dealing with a loved one with cancer.
December 2, 2008
Book about two sisters Abigail and Adrienne whose mother has breast cancer.
Reading Practice, Vocabulary Practice
Book Level: 3.5
Interest Level: Lower Grades (LG K-3)
Fiction/Nonfiction: Fiction
Topic - Subtopic: Community Life-School; Diseases/Disorders- Breast Cancer; People-Siblings; People-Parents;
Reading Practice, Vocabulary Practice
Book Level: 3.5
Interest Level: Lower Grades (LG K-3)
Fiction/Nonfiction: Fiction
Topic - Subtopic: Community Life-School; Diseases/Disorders- Breast Cancer; People-Siblings; People-Parents;
December 1, 2008
grades 2-4
fluent
read aloud
problem realism
cancer
weak text & illustration interaction
positive book about family dealing w/mom's cancer and treatments
surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation. sadness and humor
fluent
read aloud
problem realism
cancer
weak text & illustration interaction
positive book about family dealing w/mom's cancer and treatments
surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation. sadness and humor
November 12, 2015
This book is a wonderful tool to assist children that have loved ones diagnosed with cancer. The girls are very realistic characters that should be easy for young readers to connect with. The seriousness and common reality of cancer makes it a much need book.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews