We are sharing exciting Behind-The-Photo peeks about the making of When A Brave Bear Fights Cancer; A Get Well Soon Gift by Carola Schmidt and illustrated by Mark O’Dwyer. We are very excited about this picture book. This is what it looks like:
This book is to help children who get a sickness called cancer. It explains the treatments in a very understandable way. All the bears in the house helped out. Some of them appear in it, especially our Scotland the Brave (in photos below) who is the little patient trying hard to be brave about his cancer treatment.
Our first peek Behind The Photo is about the photo for Chemotherapy treatment. Our baffled bunch did their best to work out how to do it, but they did get into some muddles along the way. Read on.
The Chemotherapy Drip: A Delicate Medical Instrument
Oscar (in red tartan tie) taking charge: Right, fellow bears. Our mission today is to illustrate chemotherapy treatment. It’s a big job, bears, but we can do this! We set up this drip thingamajig like in the picture. Then Scotty sits in a chair. Nurse Bree will attach this drip thingamajig to his arm. And then we make the photo.
Nurse Bree: But Oscar, we don’t have one of those shiny drip line pole things to hang the thingamajig on. What can we do?
Oscar: Oh, there’s bound to be something lying about the house. Everyone go and look.
Little Teddy (blue jumper): But it’s time to nap!
Oscar (sternly): This is an important picture, Little Teddy. No time to nap. Let’s all search.
Scotty (wearing tartan trews): Look at what Little Teddy and I found in the laundry. It’s perfect.
Old Yellow: It’s a broom, Scotty.
Scotty: We can simply make a few adjustments.
Old Yellow: Scotty, we need to make a delicate medical instrument for the chemotherapy photo. This is a broom. A blue broom.
Little Teddy: I like this blue broom. Its the same colour blue as my jumper. Can I play with it?
Scotty: Not now, Little Teddy. Its going to be a delicate .. umm muddy .. umm something .. insstru .. something .. What was it, Old Yellow?
Old Yellow: A ‘delicate medical instrument’, Scotty. This blue broom, you see, is not delicate or medical and … What are doing, Scotty? You’re breaking it!
Scotty: We’re taking the pole handle thing off the brush thing at the bottom. See, like this. Then we can make the pole thing for the blue broom become a shiny pole thing for the delicate muddy thing.
Old Yellow. ‘Delicate Medical Thing’, Scotty. Not ‘muddy.’ “Medical.’
Scotty: And then we will stand the pole up. And then we can hang the drip bag thing on it.
Old Yellow: Hmm. Well, perhaps it could work.
Little Teddy: Can we nap now?
Will the bears ever turn the broken blue broom into a delicate medical instrument? Will Little Teddy ever get a nap? What will the final picture look like? Don’t miss the next exciting episode of (deep voice) Behind The Photo.
About When A Brave Bear Fights Cancer
Carola Schmidt wrote the book. Mawson’s Guardian, Mark (and all the bears) helped with the pictures. Carola is an award-winning author of children’s books about cancer including Chubby’s Tale: The True Story of a Teddy. Bear Who Beat Cancer. She also wrote Cancer Daily Life. She uses her experience as a paediatric oncology pharmacist to write scientific books for Springer Nature.
Where to find When A Brave Bear Fights Cancer: A Get Well Soon Gift.
Amazon dot com and Amazon UK and Amazon Australia and Brazil and Canada and India and Japan and Mexico and Sweden. Also Waterstones, Book Depository (with free shipping), Book Shop Org, Barnes and Noble and more.
Where to find Chubby’s Book: Book Authority (where Chubby is ranked in Best Leukaemia books of all time), and Amazon, and Book Depository (with free shipping) and more. You can also follow Chubby on Twitter and on Facebook.
Mawson Bear 