One strange morning, the smell of cake is gone from the kitchen, the house is too quiet, and a small black cloud is hovering over the rooftop — closer than all the other clouds, as if it has come to stay. Soon Mama is resting more, strands of her hair appear on the pillow, and one evening a whispered word drifts through the house: cancer.
Told through the eyes of a child trying to make sense of it all, this is a tender, hopeful picture book about a mother’s illness and the love that holds a family together. Mama meets the black cloud with courage, trading her hair for a rose-trimmed cap and inviting her children to draw everything that makes them happy upon caps of their own — because she wants to see hope in them.
The story is followed by a gentle, illustrated guide that answers children’s real questions: What is cancer? Is it contagious? How is it treated? How can I help someone I love? Created with care for families facing illness, it closes on the book’s quiet promise — there is always light behind the clouds.