COE faculty pen children's book about cancer, hair loss

Ten-year-old Isabel Cutting and 14-year-old Emma Wheeler live in different parts of the country, enjoy different activities and like different foods.

 

But they share a common bond - they've both donated their hair to organizations that make wigs for children who've gone through cancer treatments and lost their hair.

 

Barbara Meyers, chair of the Department of Early Childhood Education, and Clinical Assistant Professor Lydia Mays brought the girls' voices to life in The Long and the Short of It: A Tale About Hair, a children's book that explores the issues associated with cancer and hair loss.

 

The inspiration for the book came when Meyers noticed that Mays cut her hair to donate to Locks of Love.

 

"When I told Barbara that I donated my hair, she told me that her granddaughter, Isabel, had just done the same," Mays explained. "My friend, Emma, was a cancer survivor and it was so important for her to be able to grow her hair back and donate it. We noted the two girls had given the same gift - hair donation - but the path to get there for both was extremely different. We thought, there's a story here."

 

The writing process took about a year, during which Meyers and Mays interviewed Isabel and Emma and framed the story around their experiences with cancer, hair loss and the act of giving. They also interviewed the girls' families and sent them drafts of the story to ensure it accurately depicted their ideas.

 

"So many of the words in the book are theirs," Mays said. "We really wanted to honor their voices."

 

To continue reading about the children's book, click here. 

 

Photo caption: Clinical Assistant Professor Lydia Mays and Barbara Meyers, chair of the Department of Early Childhood Education, bring two girls' voices to life in "The Long and the Short of It: A Tale About Hair."