I have found books & movies to be a very powerful way to talk about chronic illness with my son. When Ayrie was two, the books were very simple and talked mostly about hospital visits. He watched a movie about Elmo going to the hospital fifty times, if not more. It seemed to give him a sense of confidence about the visits, helping everything to seem more predictable.
Sesame Street – Elmo Visits the Doctor
But he’s four now and we are reading a variety books, some of which have subject matter is very serious and dark. My son, his brother and I have been reading Little Tree: A Story for children with serious medical conditions and even though its actually quite hard for me to read, my 4-year-old son is definitely engaged and benefiting from it.
Little Tree: A Story for Children With Serious Medical Illness
As a general rule, only read what you are comfortable reading! I just found a new book that I would like to read, ‘Let me Colors Out’. Even though this book is about a boy whose mother has cancer, it sounds like the use of colors as a way to talk about emotions in this book could be a helpful tool for us. The book is written by Courtney Filigenzi with illustrations by award-winning artist Shennen Bersani.
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