Doctor, what is Cancer?

by Cassandra Gullia

Overview

Little bunny Ally is feeling sick. Her mommy and daddy take her to see Doctor Maggie.

Doctor Maggie is very nice. She helps lots of children feel better. She tells Ally that she has Cancer.

But what is cancer?

Doctor Maggie explains what cancer is. She has a plan to help Ally feel better.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781525509599
Publisher:	FriesenPress
Publication date:	10/20/2017
Pages:	28
Product dimensions:	8.50(w) x 11.00(h) x 0.07(d)
Age Range:	4 - 7 Years

About the Author

Cassandra currently directs the development of Continuing Medical Education (CME) programs that Physicians and other Allied Health Care Professionals are required to complete. They are educated on new advancements in medicine and can then apply their learning to their clinical practice.

Cassandra believes there is a need for health education among children as well. It can be difficult to explain to a child health related topics. She hopes that she can help simplify these hard topics and frame them in a way that children can understand.

Editorial Reviews

2018-01-05
In Gullia's debut children's book, a young bunny learns that treating cancer is like weeding a flower garden.Every day Ally, a bunny, wakes up before the sun and races to the bottom of the hill to meet her friends. Then one day, she starts to feel sick and tired; her stomach hurts, and she doesn't want to eat. When her doctor, Maggie, a dog, tells her that she has cancer, the little bunny isn't sure what that means. So Maggie shows her a garden in which the flowers and dandelions compete for food. Just as dandelions steal food from flowers, the cancer steals energy from Ally, and like a gardener sprays dandelions, the doctors will use chemotherapy to fight the cancer. Gullia offers these comparisons as a comforting way to reduce children's fears of cancer and as an accessible explanation for a complicated process. The garden's vibrant colors also eliminate the sense that cancer is a shadowy thing. Ally goes from being an energetic bunny to a lethargic one, but with Maggie's help, she becomes determined to "spray all the dandelions!" Although Ally never goes through hair loss (like many children undergoing chemotherapy), it is mentioned and compared to wilted and lost flower petals that grow back.Bright colors and approachable analogies make this a reassuring book for youngsters.

Kirkus Reviews