LITTLE WARRIORS, BIG LIVES

Young cancer patients are celebrated in poetry in this debut picture book.

In five striking poems, Fausett captures the struggles of kids with cancer. The first, “Dear Cancer,” is addressed to the disease itself, with the child narrator declaring: “You’re not welcome here to stay, / Allow me to lead you on your way.” A youngster in a hospital gown follows the advice of the narrator in “Dance, Anyways.” Two young patients take a trip using their imaginations in “Journey.” A child describes learning things and gaining strength during the fight against cancer in “Good for Something.” The final evocative poem, “True Warrior,” equates scars with stars, claiming that all of the youngster’s triumphs against cancer are like footprints in a journey. Fausett’s rhythms are often syncopated, giving the lines of poetry an upbeat flow without a firm scansion. She frequently uses near-rhymes (lightly / mighty), and sometimes she turns phrases in inventive ways that may confuse younger readers (“embrace our strive”). The bold-hued digital art by Banerjee features several kids of different ethnicities as cancer patients; all feature nose tubes in a bright color attached to their faces. While there is an attempt to include Native Americans in the cast, the illustrator’s choice of clothing and feathers is stereotypical. One character wears a full headdress and has streaked paint on his cheeks, and a child sports two feathers sticking up from a headband.

Creative, encouraging verses about cancer patients accompanied by uneven illustrations.