Bright Reads
Little books to help kids with big emotions.
Request free books from us through Bright Reads!
Bright Reads provides free age-appropriate books about dealing with big emotions, cancer and illness, and grief and loss, to the children of parents going through cancer. These books are meant for preschool age and early school age children.
As part of our Bright Reads program, we provide a selection of the recommended books below free of charge to the children of parents going through cancer.
Each family will also get a copy of A Tiny Boat at Sea - an excellent, concise resource for parents with age-appropriate examples for how to talk to kids about cancer.
What books did you read to your kids? Were there books you found really helpful, or books that seemed inappropriate or triggering? Please let us know here and we may add them to the mix. We’d especially love to hear about books focused on dads, featuring people of color, and/or LGBTQ families, as we could find very few of these!
At this time, we can only serve inside the U.S.
List of Suggested Books
Check out our comprehensive list of suggested books. This list covers a range of areas including books for adults about talking to children about cancer and death, books for teens, children’s books about cancer, feelings, grief, and loss, and more.
Bright Reads Book Bundle
Interested in our Bright Reads Book Bundles curated specifically for cancer clinics? Check it out.
Books About Cancer
CANCER HATES KISSES, JESSICA SLIWERSKI
Cancer Hates Kisses is one of the best books I’ve found for kids that discusses cancer. It focuses on a mama of two kids, who is a “cancer-fighting superhero.” The book doesn’t specify the type of cancer mama has, although the author herself was diagnosed with breast cancer four months after her daughter was born. Mama undergoes surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation. She is described as “brave” and her surgery scars are described as “warrior wounds.” The family (including dad) helps mama get through cancer by letting her rest, giving hugs, giving compliments, and having dance parties. They are also honest about how cancer makes mama lose her hair, get exhausted, and cry sometimes. The book’s conclusion is positive but open-ended - there is no mention of being “cured.” It’s an honest, age-appropriate look at cancer. Probably best for 3 - 6 yr olds, but could be used with children as young as 18 mos - 2 years and as old as 8. Also available in Spanish.
Live reading is available here.
Stickers on her Bald Head, Chelsey Gomez
This book explores a mom losing her hair due to chemo and her daughter's emotions surrounding the change. It uses very gentle language, cute illustrations, and a rhyming structure that is easy to follow. Written for the author's 3 year old daughter, it is perfect for that age, but could also work for helping kids a little younger and older work through some of the emotions attached to a parent's hair loss due to chemotherapy. Best for kids 18months to 3 years old.
Mama's Afro Is A Soldier Too: Mom's Cancer Diagnosis Explained, N.M. Charles & Mary K. Biswas
Mama's Afro Is A Soldier Too: Mom's Cancer Diagnosis Explained explores a mother’s cancer diagnosis and details cancer treatment including surgery, chemotherapy and radiation. The Afro Soldier represents both a mother’s resilience in the face of cancer while also providing reassurance to young readers. We love this book's rhyming cadence and careful attention to a delicate subject matter. It has excellent coloring pages and age-appropriate activities in the back of the book. This book is great for kids 4-9.
I Have a Question about Cancer: Clear Answers for All Kids, including Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder or other Special Needs, Arlen Grad Gaines & Meredith Englander Polsky
This book tackles the subject of cancer in a question and answer format. Designed to help kids, including children with autism spectrum disorder or other additional needs, to understand what it means when someone in their life has cancer. “I have a Question about Cancer” is not written to help children understand a parent’s diagnosis specifically, but it is a great opening for any parent or caregiver to help explain their own diagnosis. Illustrated with SymbolStix, a symbol-based language for visual thinkers, this book also features a picture story that reiterates the original story, presenting another place for kids to learn about cancer. A wonderful guide for parents and caregivers accompanies the book. Written for kids autism spectrum disorder but a book that is great for all kids ages 3-8.
What Happens When Someone I Love has Cancer by Sara Olsher
This book follows one child as she begins to understand a family member’s cancer diagnosis and treatment. We love how this book helps explain cancer to a curious child but also how cancer will affect the child’s life as well. Through creating and maintaining routines, the protagonist of this story, Mia finds a bit more comfort and understanding in the midst of uncertainty. Sara Olsher also authored another Bright Reads book, Cancer Party! This book is suitable for kids 4-10 years old. Also available in Spanish.
The Cancer That Wouldn’t Go Away: A story for kids about metastatic cancer
This gentle story is about a mother with metastatic cancer and a child learning to live with the uncertainty of his mother’s illness. The Cancer that Wouldn’t Go Away is different from a lot of other cancer-specific books because it lifts up the deep uncertainty that affects each member of the family when someone has cancer. Despite all the difficulties of cancer, this book highlights the love, laughter, and joy between mother and child. There is a helpful section at the end for parents and therapists. The Cancer that Wouldn’t Go Away is appropriate for children 4-8.
My Dad is a Cancer Fighting Hero
This book focuses on a dad’s experience with cancer. It has lovely, gentle rhymes and cute illustrations that make it easy and fun to read. While the dad tells the child he has cancer, there is otherwise no mention of type of cancer, specific treatment, or outcome. The emphasis of My Dad is a Cancer Fighting Hero is on the relationship between the father and child and that cancer is not the child's fault. At the center of the book is love, something that cancer cannot take away! This book is best suited for children 2-5.
My Dad and the Dragon by Montserrat Coughlin Kim
My Dad and the Dragon explores illness as a dragon stuck inside Cameron’s dad. Cameron’s family unites to try to fight the dragon but everyday isn’t a superhero battle, some days the fighting is quieter and other days life even seems to go back to normal. My Dad and the Dragon explores everyday life in a family navigating a cancer diagnosis and treatment. While some days dad might feel well, other days he is tired or feels negative side effects of cancer treatment. Beautifully illustrated, My Dad and the Dragon makes clear that there is joy even when the world feels uncertain or difficult. Everyday is a day to tell the people that you love, that you love them. Appropriate for kids 4-10.
Butterfly Kisses and Wishes on Wings: When someone you love has cancer
A beautiful story of a mother explaining to her child about her cancer diagnosis, as told through her son. This is a beautiful and wide ranging book that explains cancer and cancer treatment in very simple and clear terms. In a sweet way, the book explains that cancer is not contagious and not the child’s fault. There is a focus on what a child can do to help the mother and that the child can be an important part of the cancer “journey.” The mother helps the child to understand that they may experience a wide range of emotions and all of those emotions are good emotions to have. Book is appropriate for kids 3-8 years old. Available in Spanish.
Live reading is available here.
Chemotherapy 101 by Chelsey Gomez
Chemotherapy 101 focuses on chemotherapy in a way that children can understand. There are colorful and fun illustrations to make this topic less scary for kids. A great resource for a curious kid looking to understand their parent’s cancer treatment. We love that this book does not promise any specific treatment outcomes or durations. It emphasizes that cancer is not the child's fault and encourages them to ask questions. Appropriate for kids 3-8
Books about Grief,Loss & Death
We recommend additional titles and resources here.
THE INVISIBLE STRING, PATRICE KARST
We got this book well before my cancer diagnosis, to help address separation anxiety when my son started preschool. We revisited it often during my treatment, and he was really comforted by the “invisible string” concept - the idea that people who love each other are connected by an invisible string made of love. In the story, a mother tells her twins Liza and Jeremy about the invisible string after they’re awoken by a thunder storm one night. The twins ask about all the different places the string can reach, and the mom reassures her children that it can reach the people they love anywhere - even if they are mountain climbers or deep sea divers. She reassures them that it remains connected even when she gets mad at them. She tells them their string even reaches their Uncle Brian in Heaven. Appropriate for kids ages 3-7. Also available in Spanish.
Live reading is available here.
GOODBYE BOOK, TODD PARR
The Goodbye Book addresses the range of emotions someone may feel after a loss. This book does so much with simple language and pictures. Author Todd Parr helps children understand the range of emotions one can feel in grief from sadness to denial to lack of joy, alongside the physical ways grief may appear, like a desire to not eat or trouble sleeping. The Goodbye Book helps kids understand that the memories of a loved one can provide comfort and the people around you will provide support, holding you tight. This book is a good fit for kids ages 2-6.
Live reading is available here.
Lifetimes:The Beautiful Way to Explain Death to Children by Bryan Mellonie
Lifetimes is a classic book for kids on understanding life and death. Exploring both beginnings and endings, it looks to the world around us, to show us the cycle of life. Beautifully illustrated, Lifetimes looks at plants, animals, insects, and people to understand that dying is as much a part of life as birth. This book is not without sentiment but it is a very matter of fact account of life and death. Appropriate for anyone over 3.
Live reading is available here.
Books About Feelings
THE FEELINGS BOOK, TODD PARR
This board book doesn’t deal with cancer specifically but is a nice way of introducing young kids to the range of emotions, including new feelings they may be grappling with during a parent’s cancer diagnosis. Suitable for even the youngest kids. Also available in Spanish.
Live reading is available here.
MY BODY SENDS ME SIGNALS, Natalia Maguire
My Body Sends a Signal is a sweet story that exposes the range of emotions that kids – like adults – feel. Ranging from happy, proud, and excited to jealous, angry, and nervous, this book shows that we all experience a range of emotions and all emotions are good to feel and acknowledge. At the end of the book, there is also further reading, discussion, and activities for kids and adults to do together. Best for kids 2-8 years old. Live reading is available here.
