Can you remember anything you were doing at age 7 that did not involve potty jokes, running after the ice cream truck or putting a finger where it did not belong? Taylor Rice, a Lake Forest 8-year-old, can look way back to last year when she wrote what's claimed to be the first children's book of its kind.
My Cancer Mommy, which is now available for purchase, presents a kid's perspective on a mother's battle with the disease, from diagnosis to recovery. Taylor was seven months old when her mother, DeAnna Rice, was diagnosed
with breast cancer for a second time and seven years old when DeAnna was diagnosed with cancer a third time.
“I didn't know what cancer was but it scared me. I just wanted to help
other kids whose mommies were sick,” Taylor said when asked why she wrote
the book, which was illustrated by Russian artist Olga Matushkina–for free.
Proceeds from My Cancer Mommy–which is available in hard cover for $24.95 by visiting mycancermommy.com–help Moms
with Cancer, a nonprofit DeAnna started to address the special needs of mothers dealing with cancer treatments and recovery.
While contemplating her next project, the author is living with her mother, father Tim Rice, black lab Ruby, mini border collie Bella and teacup long hair chihuahua Papa, when she isn't attending her third-grade class at Cordillera Elementary School in Mission Viejo.
OC Weekly Editor-in-Chief Matt Coker has been engaging, enraging and entertaining readers of newspapers, magazines and websites for decades. He spent the first 13 years of his career in journalism at daily newspapers before “graduating” to OC Weekly in 1995 as the alternative newsweekly’s first calendar editor.