The voice of Krisztina Tóth’s little girl heroine is childishly cheerful as she talks about her illness. When a parent falls ill, it is a difficult trauma for a child to process. One could write about this in a sad tone, but the author prefers to approach this taboo subject with her usual fresh perspective and humour. She explains to children what a tumour is, that it is possible to recover from the illness, and that we can and should talk about everything. This is a humorous book that shows how we can get through a family crisis and how we can help our little ones understand that there is nothing to be afraid of if we, as adults, talk about it clearly and openly.
“Everyone was there when Mum came home, as if we were celebrating a birthday. I told Grandpa that it was a shame it wasn’t her birthday today, because we had all come together so nicely. Grandpa said that in a sense it was a birthday, because Mum had been reborn. Adults always say “in a sense” when something is not at all what they say it is. In other words, there was no cake.”
