When Eric's Mom Fought Cancer. This item is unavailable.When Eric's Mom Fought Cancer

Eric is scared by his mother's ravaging illness and afraid he will not get to try his new skis before winter's over, until his father takes him on a surprise trip during which he buys his mother a token of hope.

Kindergarten-Grade 3-Vigna addresses another childhood trauma in her usual efficient and helpful way. Eric's mother has surgery for breast cancer and then undergoes debilitating chemotherapy. When she comes home from the hospital, the young boy is bewildered at her lack of energy, her loss of hair, and the seemingly endless series of treatments that make her feel so ill. A supportive and understanding grandmother helps him through this difficult period. At last his mother is well enough to urge Eric and his father to take a long-awaited ski trip by themselves. The story ends on a hopeful note, as they plan next winter's ski trip to include Eric's mother. The child's reactions to her illness are normal and understandable in this simple narrative. The ink-and-watercolor line drawings, although often expressive of sorrow or anger, are done in warm, consoling shades, and the text is printed on encouraging pastel peach, green, and yellow pages. A tough subject, handled with both truth and optimism.
Patricia Pearl Dole, formerly at First Presbyterian School, Martinsville, VA
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Ages 4-8. When Eric's mother goes to the hospital for cancer surgery, Eric is frightened and lonely. When she returns, he is still frightened and often resentful because she is too tired to do the things they used to do together and therapy causes her hair to fall out. With Grandma's help, he makes a snow figure that wears one of his mother's turbans and has ski poles for arms, but when his mother returns from treatment, she is too sick to admire his work. Angrily, Eric smashes the sculpture and sobs his frustration. The next day, Eric's father takes him to a nearby slope to ski and brings some needed normalcy and pleasure to his life. He purchases a knit cap with yarn pigtails for his mother, who tells him she hopes to wear it and ski with them next year. Vigna's watercolors have a gentle quality that complements the text. The story says it's all right to be angry about illness and offers hope without false promises. A reassuring tale for children with illness in their homes. Sheilamae O'Hara