Carmen Monge’s picture book, Can-Can & the Adventure of Ming Island shows adults how to explain what is going on to a young child who gets cancer. It shares ideas with families for helping their children navigate through treatments, and it nurtures empathy and hope.
We know that children get cancer. It’s in the news often enough. Every time we hear of another child with cancer, it troubles our hearts and makes us question the goodness of the universe. I know, goodness isn’t a concern of the universe; nor is fairness, but it’s still how I react. When I was undergoing radiation, the therapists put cutouts of different animals on the cherry tree painted on the ceiling to give kids something to discover as they go through treatments.
These are some of Carmen’s insight to help children understand what is happening: it’s normal for a child to have many feelings at the same time; they can be both happy and scared. If there’s a change in your skin, if something feels different, get it checked out. A child hasn’t done anything wrong to get cancer. People react differently to the same treatments. It’s normal to worry that you might not be able to play like you did before. Set small goals. There is always a way to sweeten a bitter situation. If you can’t do something the way you did it before, find a new way.
Carmen also explains how cells work, and that cancer begins when some cells get sick. The context of her story is that cancer is an adventure that is full of new challenges for Can-Can, the main character in the book. At the end of each chapter, there are discussion questions to go over with the child. These are some of her insights for each age group:
Children under the age of 13 may not know what being seriously ill means, and later they may not remember much about what went on. Cancer decisions have been made by their parents for them, and the parents will need to fill the children in about what went on.
For adolescents under the age of 20, who are beginning to crave independence, they want to help make the decisions about their treatments. Cancer not only disrupts their lives, it also shapes what they decide to do in the future. They are forced to grow up faster than their peers.
For young adults under the age of 40, developing cancer sidetracks them at a time when other people their age are building their careers and starting families, and they have to put all of these things on hold. Also, getting cancer when they’re young means that they will have to deal with the side effects of the treatments for much longer and have a chance of recurrence. They may also feel alone because cancer has set them aside from the normal activities that occupy other people their age.
For older adults, getting cancer can feel like being betrayed by their body. At this point, their adult identity is set, and they have settled in a job, home, and family. Now all of this gets disrupted, and they aren’t happy about it.
In addition to writing the Can-Can series of children’s book on cancer, Carmen also interviews people of different ages and cultures from around the world. Among her important discoveries is that children and young adults process having cancer differently than older adults, but dealing with feelings is important to everyone who has cancer.
Carmen Monge-Montero survived Hodgkin’s cancer as a young adult, and is a global cancer advocate and researcher. She’s the founder of MANO Beyond Cancer, a storytelling platform that connects survivors across continents. She has conducted 95 interviews with cancer survivors from different cultures around the world, especially young people. These are posted on LinkedIn. She works to promote patient advocacy, health policy, and global health initiatives where storytelling informs more equitable cancer care.
Her LinkedIn site is https://www.linkedin.com/in/carmen-monge/
© 2026 Mark Liebenow
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