Product Description

Recommended by critics from every industry including- entertainment, medical and literary! Such as The Rosie O Donnell Show – Entertainment, National Oncology Nursing Society- Medical, Today’s Librarian, Midwest Book Review, Against the Grain, Today's Dallas Woman and other literary reviewers across the country!

Told through the eyes of it's title character, Tickles Tabitha's Cancer-tankerous Mommy uses candor and comic reality to dispel stereotypes and acknowledge some moody truths faced by families LIVING with cancer.

"Mommy's wig was still attached to her head, but she didn’t look so good. The wig-hair stuck out like snarled rat-tails in all directions. There was a crooked horizontal line right where her smile should be. Worst of all she was in no mood to play Tickles Tabitha."

A poignant and humorous account of a Mommy’s moodiness, caused in part by the medicine she must take to cure her cancer. It's about a family that loves one another, minus the sap. Instead it reads like it could be your family; not the family you think you ought to be. Expect young readers to ask to be tickled until their faces turn pink!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #241309 in Books
• Published on: 2001-10
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 32 pages

Review
"A clarity and candor laced with humor and insight. Very highly recommended for school and community library "health issues" collections." -- The Midwest Book Review, July 2001

"Includes the sudden hush children feel whenever their world isn't what they expect." Today's Dallas Woman. Oct. 2001 -- Today's Dallas Woman, October 2001

"It takes a humorous approach to one of the many down sides of battling cancer- being cantankerous. Eye-popping, gloriously colored." -- Today's Librarian, Sept. 2001

"With no "kid-friendly" resources to explain the physical and emotional changes that result from battling cancer, she wrote one...." -- Barr Laboratories, Inc., Annual Report 2001

Engaging and educating from the dramatic opening to the touching ending, I found myself mesmerized. -- Creative Writing Professor Joann Ludemen Yost, Bethel College, St. Paul, MN Whose mother died of cancer.

I was so touched, it's not an easy topic to convey and Amelia Frahm's done it. -- Randi Kaye WCCO TV, Minneapolis, MN Daughter of a cancer survivor.

Publisher's children's book about her battle with cancer garners national attention. The thing is she scored.... -- Minnapolis Star Tribune, Business Section, July 28,2002

Support for Kids who have a parent with cancer. -- MAMM Magazine, Special Edition Family Matters- Winter 2002

This book is a unique and powerful tool that can help any family facing this unfortunate situation. -- Charla McMichael, R.N. B.S.N. Oncology, University of Michigan Hospital. Daughter of a cancer survivor.

covers even how the delicate infrastructure of day-to-day family issues between husband, wife and children are changed by cancer. -- Susan G. Komen Foundation- July 2001

From the Publisher
The Nutcracker Publishing Company announced Tickles Tabitha’s Cancer-tankerous Mommy, October 2001, during Breast Cancer Awareness Month. That same month Rosie O Donnell showed it to a national audience on the popular Rosie O Donnell Show. Approved by the National Oncology Nursing Society Tickles Tabitha’s Cancer-tankerous Mommy captured the attention of Barr Laboratories Inc. Manufacture of the breast cancer drug Tamoxifen even before its October 2001 publication date. The book, its author and her children are featured in Barr’s 2001 annual report.

Literary, medical and entertainment critics alike have all recommended this book which was written, published and marketed by a cancer survivor who identifies intimately with her audience –other survivors- and understands their need for an honest, humorous children’s book about surviving cancer.

The Nutcracker Publishing Company was established in 2000 in honor of Laura Bouldin Karlman, a young mother who died of Leukemia. Tickles Tabitha’s Cancer-tankerous Mommy is its first title.

Early on the company recognized a need for children’s books the adult reader would enjoy reading. With that in mind the Nutcracker Publishing Company strives to publish “Children’s Books Adults Will Want To Crack Open.”

From the Author
"Life for us had been sad enough. I wanted my children to see humor in the most frustrating of situations. CANCER is frustrating but laughing about it is a little like getting the giggle in church."

Customer Reviews

Excellent children's book
This is a humorous book that deals not just with cancer but with family life. My favorite part is Tabitha's mental picture of Daddy sitting in the time out chair. I wish I had had this book when my children where presented with a close neighbor who had cancer. Wether a child has a parent, grandparent, friend or friend's parent in their life who has cancer, this is an excellent book to use to start talking about it. Because it portrays family life in general in a funny way, it is good for any child.

Helps kids understand how illness can affect a parent's mood
Tabitha's mother has cancer and has to undergo chemotherapy. The treatments make the mother's hair fall out and give her a huge appetite. Worse still, the treatment makes her tired and irritable. Tabitha misses their warm tickle games. Tabitha, her brother and even the cat get frightened when their mother gets angry. When their father sees this, he uses love and humor to help provide support. Tabitha finds a way to get her mother to show her old warmth.

The superb illustrations are warm and expressive. When the picture shows the shadow of the angry mother, wig askew, standing over Tabitha, one really gets the sense of how Tabitha experiences her mother just then.

Mood changes are more difficult for children to understand than the more concrete aspects of an illness. This book does an excellent job of showing how these mood The story is realistic without being scarey. This book would be good not just for children of cancer patients but also for children of parents withother chronic diseases such as Hepatitis C. A variety of illness and treatments can cause an individual to be irritable or moody.

Uses humor to deal with sensitive issues
My 6 year old daughter loves this book. Her mom was recently diagnosed with breast cancer and this book deals with issues like crankiness, which is relevant in her life right now. It also covers hair loss, which she is particularly interested in. (The tickling helps make the book more fun, too.) I would recommend this to those who like to add some humore to a bad cancer day.