About Us
Our Story
When our daughter Alice was 10 months old she was not able to hold her head up straight. We went straight to Sick Kids Hospital and was admitted a few hours later. We thought she might have a neck infection but a CT scan and then an MRI confirmed Alice has brain cancer.
Alice had a brain biopsy just before her first birthday. We were then placed on the watch and wait protocol, every 3 months she had a MRI to check the growth of her tumor. Just before Alice’s second birthday she started 17 months of chemotherapy and 6 months of a trial drug.
During this time Alice’s love of reading stories and Disney Princesses grew. After an extensive search for books that she could relate too, I was disappointed to find there was very little. There were no books with a main character like her to help her with what she was going through.
The Start of The Princess Lily Series
At night I would tell Alice stories of a Princess just like her. A Princess who collected bravery beads, had a port and started chemotherapy. Alice loved these stories. After doing a lot of research I decided to self-publish my books, this way I could donate as many as a could to families just like ours.
Alice was so excited to see the books, to see a Princess just like her. She would tell all her friends about Princess Lily. Alice loved bringing the books to Sick Kids Hospital every week and giving them to the other children in the oncology ward.
I started selling the books and for every book sold I donated one to a children’s Hospital or childhood cancer family.
Representation Matters
Representation in the media and books we read is so important. When children only see the media portray characters that are different from them they can feel excluded and that they do not matter. On the other hand seeing characters that look like them and are going thorough similar situations can help with feelings of loneliness and isolation.
We created Princess Lily, Zoah the Warrior, Jackson the Bravest Knight and Alannah the Mermaid so children can see themselves as the main character and feel seen and understood.
2023 was an exciting year for The Princess Lily Series.
We became a childhood cancer nonprofit organization so we can donate more books to families battling cancer.
We organized our first free family festival –Adventure in the Park- in September for International Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. This festival was a huge success.
Help us spread joy and comfort to children battling cancer! Your donation to our nonprofit allows us to write and donate more books, bringing smiles to their faces during a difficult time. Every contribution makes a difference!
A Message from our founder.
Having a child with cancer can be isolating for the whole family. I hope our books can help children know they are not alone and that they are braver than they know.
Alice has been off chemotherapy for a year and a half now and she is doing great. Her nightmares are getting less and so is her ptsd. She has MRI’S every 3 months which causes a lot of scanxiety. We know she will need more treatment in the future but we never know when.
Alice loves playing with her sisters and is thriving at an alternative outdoor school with her best friend Olivia. If you would like more regular updates on our family and the series please follow our Instagram.
"My daughter Lily lost her hair this year during chemo. She was so excited to read this book and her and her little brother were captivated the whole time. As a mom the book brought me to (happy) tears and for my warrior daughter it left her with a smile on her face. I’m buying some for my local hospital and would recommend it for friends of cancer warriors as well!"
"Beautiful book to read to children who are losing their hair. The hair fairy is such a great idea! Helping kids to see the whole experience in a different way, especially that it presents that the hair is being used to make fairy dust! I read it with the three children in my care and it normalised losing hair for them, helping them to know about this and be more compassionate when they meet children with no hair. They even wanted to lose their hair!"
"Beautiful book that brought me to tears. The author went above and beyond to make sure we received both of her books while staying at Ronald McDonald House for radiation treatments. I read them before reading them to our little guy and glad I did because it totally made me cry! Simple and encouraging to young children fighting cancer and their caretakers."
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