September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. Each day a different guest blogger will be featured who will generously share their personal experience with childhood cancer. Stories are always more potent than statistics.
Illustrated and Written By Sonya Keith
“Princess Maeve and the Dragon” is an illustrated children’s e-book drawn and conceived by Sonya to help the children in her life better understand cancer treatments after a friend was diagnosed. Sonya writes, “Our family friend, Makenzie, has just started chemo. Although at 26 she is not a child, her niece Maeve is two years old. I wrote this story for Darla (my 3 year old) and Maeve to explain why Makenzie will be feeling, looking, and maybe acting differently. I was hoping it would be a good introduction to a topic I’ve never had to cover with the kids. When my mom died of cancer the kids were all infants and I somehow escaped having to explain all of this.”
Using her phone and the Picsart app, Sonya created the story of a princess who loses her hair. Building these stories on her phone is a way that Sonya relaxes and deals with the stress of day-to-day life as a social worker and non-profit volunteer in Southern California. You can follow Sonya at her blog, Darla’s Mom.