Stories That Look Like Us: Why Representation Matters in Childhood Cancer Books
Representation in children’s cancer books supports identity, coping, and emotional healing.
When a child is sick, the world can feel confusing and frightening. Parents and caregivers do their best to protect them, to comfort them, and to explain what is happening. But many children still struggle with big emotions. They often search for clues about themselves in the stories they read and the pictures they see.
For children in Ghana and across Africa, those stories can be hard to find. For many years, few children’s books showed kids with cancer who looked like them. Even fewer stories reflected their daily lives, their hair, their skin, their names, their foods, or their families. This matters more than many adults realize.
Children use stories to make sense of illness. Stories help them feel understood. Stories help them feel seen. Stories tell them, “You are not alone.”
This is why we began creating our children’s books about cancer and other illnesses. Our first titles—My Hair, My Pride; My Scar; Awo’s Brave Journey; and I Am Not Alone—were shaped by real children and the voices of their families. These were stories we wished had existed when we first met our patients. We wrote the books for them, and for every child who deserves to see themselves inside a brave character.
Why representation matters
Representation means being able to see a part of yourself in a story. It can show up in the color of a child’s skin, the texture of their hair, the food they eat, the way their family speaks, or the place they call home. It can also appear in shared experiences, such as going to the clinic, losing hair during treatment, or missing school because of long hospital stays.
When children do not see themselves in stories, they may begin to feel that their experiences are not worth telling. When they do see themselves, they learn that their lives matter and that their struggles are shared.
For children with cancer, this can change how they cope. A child might read about another girl sitting in a clinic, or another boy who is nervous before a scan, and think, “He feels that too. I am not strange. I am not alone.”
Written with children in mind, the book My Hair, My Pride, helps families start conversations about change, self-image, and confidence during treatment.
Hair, identity, and pride
One of the first books we wrote, My Hair, My Pride, was inspired by the way children react to hair loss during treatment. Many young girls and boys in Ghana wear their hair in natural curls, braids, ponytails, or short cuts. Hair is about identity, culture, and pride.
When chemotherapy causes hair to fall out, it can feel like losing a piece of oneself. One of our young patients once whispered, “Will my friends still know me?”
That question stayed with us.
In My Hair, My Pride, we celebrate every stage of hair during treatment—from full to patchy, from bald to growing back. The book helps children remember that they are still themselves. It also gives caregivers a gentle way to talk about change, beauty, and courage.
Explaining treatment through stories
Awo’s Brave Journey follows a young girl through hospital visits, medicines, side effects, and the long waits that many families know too well. In the story, Awo asks questions. She worries. She laughs. She gets tired. She keeps going.
Many parents told us that reading this book helped them explain parts of treatment in a simple and honest way. One caregiver said, “Awo helped me find words for things I could not say out loud.”
Stories can give parents language when emotions are heavy.
The book I Am Not Alone reflects the voices of children with cancer and their families, offering comfort, understanding, and a reminder to the reader that others are walking this journey alongside them.
What children and families tell us
Some of our favorite moments have been listening to how children respond to the books. One little girl touched the picture of Awo and said, “She looks like me.”
Another child smiled at his bald head in the mirror for the first time after reading My Hair, My Pride.
A teenager told us that I Am Not Alone made him feel “less afraid and less different.”
Families also shared how siblings benefited. Brothers and sisters often watch cancer from the side. They worry too. Stories give them a way to ask questions and to feel included.
From Ghana to the world
Although our books were created in Ghana, we believe their message belongs everywhere. Many children around the world are missing from the stories they read. With the help of UK-based charity World Child Cancer, we were able to translate some of our books into French, Vietnamese, Chichewa, and Bangla.
If you are a parent, caregiver, or survivor, we encourage you to look for books that reflect your child’s world. Read with them. Ask how they feel. Let them ask questions. Let stories do some of the gentle work that words alone cannot do.
Representation is not only about pictures in a book. It is about dignity, identity, and belonging. Every child deserves that, especially when facing cancer.
