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The Secret C: Straight Talking About Cancer
The Secret Straight Talking About Cancer
32 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 2009
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
June 19, 2013
Julie Stokes is the founder of the Winston's Wish charity. This picture-book is advertised on their site as being aimed at ages 4--11.
The book deals primarily with the emotions of the child, and validating them, be they anger, sadness, guilt etc. Also deals with a culture of silence, people "talking in whispers", children feeling left out.
There is a good basic explanation of cancer (cells growing too quickly, forming a lump, and crowding out the good cells), and of different treatment options (surgery, radiotherpay, chemotherapy).
Then a section on cancer "coming back" (metastatic cancer?) and being potentially fatal. I didn't like this -- cancer doesn't always go. There are suggestions that the child find an adult, like a teacher, to talk to.
It then reminds the child that life goes on – they still need to go to school, have fun etc. Very nice.
Most double-pages also include cartoons, with a different font, showing children in different situations. E.g. A girl eating with the caption "When Dad was very ill he used to be sick a lot. Once I was eating my tea when he was sick". Another shows two brothers with the caption "It's not easy having a brother with cancer. We like to fight but now I'm worried I might hurt him and Mum will get cross with me". These cartoons do add more information, but I found that they really disrupted the flow of the book, and were not well enough differentiated from the text. Perhaps putting them in boxes would have helped. They were one of the reasons I decided not to read this book to my 4-year old – I didn’t see how it was possible.
The book is good at providing very basic information and validating a child’s emotions. However, in the end I felt it was inappropriate both for my 4 year old and for my 10 year old. I found the book too disjointed for a four-year old. It had no new information for my 10 year old. And I didn’t like the section on cancer “coming back” and being potentially fatal. The possibility of it being fatal hasn’t yet occurred to either one.
I’d recommend this book for a narrower age range, maybe 6—9. Also, for families who have difficulty talking about cancer, or children with difficulty expressing their emotions.
The book deals primarily with the emotions of the child, and validating them, be they anger, sadness, guilt etc. Also deals with a culture of silence, people "talking in whispers", children feeling left out.
There is a good basic explanation of cancer (cells growing too quickly, forming a lump, and crowding out the good cells), and of different treatment options (surgery, radiotherpay, chemotherapy).
Then a section on cancer "coming back" (metastatic cancer?) and being potentially fatal. I didn't like this -- cancer doesn't always go. There are suggestions that the child find an adult, like a teacher, to talk to.
It then reminds the child that life goes on – they still need to go to school, have fun etc. Very nice.
Most double-pages also include cartoons, with a different font, showing children in different situations. E.g. A girl eating with the caption "When Dad was very ill he used to be sick a lot. Once I was eating my tea when he was sick". Another shows two brothers with the caption "It's not easy having a brother with cancer. We like to fight but now I'm worried I might hurt him and Mum will get cross with me". These cartoons do add more information, but I found that they really disrupted the flow of the book, and were not well enough differentiated from the text. Perhaps putting them in boxes would have helped. They were one of the reasons I decided not to read this book to my 4-year old – I didn’t see how it was possible.
The book is good at providing very basic information and validating a child’s emotions. However, in the end I felt it was inappropriate both for my 4 year old and for my 10 year old. I found the book too disjointed for a four-year old. It had no new information for my 10 year old. And I didn’t like the section on cancer “coming back” and being potentially fatal. The possibility of it being fatal hasn’t yet occurred to either one.
I’d recommend this book for a narrower age range, maybe 6—9. Also, for families who have difficulty talking about cancer, or children with difficulty expressing their emotions.
Displaying 1 of 1 review