A Bloomington woman is the author of a new children’s book that spotlights real kids living with medical challenges.
Shelby Vincent said she was inspired to write Perfect Through and Through by her own daughter, Nyomi. She was born with cancer, and tumor-rescission surgery left her with nerve damage impacting bowel and bladder function.
“After an appointment one day, we were driving in the car, and she asked me when she’d be normal like everyone else,” Vincent said. “And I wanted her to know in that moment that every single person in the world is totally different, and there’s beauty in that.”
Using social media, Vincent found 28 kids from across the U.S., each with their own medical obstacles – things like diabetes, heart disease, cancer, cerebral palsy, and peanut allergies. Of those, 18 are featured in Perfect Through and Through on their own page, including Nyomi. A butterfly on joins each child on every page – with its own special significance that we won’t spoil here.
Vincent worked with their families to collect photos of each child, plus other details like their favorite activities, outfits and colors. Those were passed to Vincent’s illustrator.
“They’ve been so excited to see themselves represented,” Vincent said. “One of the parents, I submitted the picture [from the book] to the mom to get some feedback. And she said at that time her son was hospitalized with some medical complication, and when she showed him the picture of himself he started crying because he was so excited.”
Vincent, a stay-at-home mom with three children, said she hopes to create a “community of change” surrounding children facing medical challenges.
“You can be more empathetic with someone when you know their story. Raising the awareness and creating empathy for people walking through various medical challenges is very important to me,” Vincent said. “I hope that when my daughter goes to school one day, and she’s holding a catheter in her hand, that people know this is just something she needs medically, and they don’t think anything more than that.”
Perfect Through and Through, published by Dreamspark Press, is available online, including Amazon and Barnes and Noble, and locally at the Gingerbread House, Children's Discovery Museum store, and Honeydoo Boutique in Bloomington.
Vincent will appear at a book-signing event, along with crafts for the kids, at the Gingerbread House from 2-3 p.m. Sept. 13.
