ReadItDaddy Home

Thursday, 8 May 2014

Novacarta's innovative 'A Story Your Way' kickstarter helps parents and children understand and cope with cancer.

Posted by ReadItDaddy at May 08, 2014 Labels: , , , ,
A Story Your Way from Novacarta. Adaptable art to help produce a book tailored to your own situation at home
One of the best things about the whole "Kickstarter" phenomenon is that it helps some extremely important projects get a much needed boost.

We have been contacted by Novacartawww.novacarta.org, who have put together some of the most innovative and amazing artists, authors and computer programmers to produce something truly original, an adaptable book - "A Story Your Way" that allows someone to set parameters to describe their own family unit, choose an art style and other items to tailor-make a book that can help convey an important story that follows their own experiences dealing with cancer.

 If you or your loved ones have ever been affected by the disease, and there's a high statistical chance that you have, you will understand the importance of projects that deal with the subject sensitively, and so I'll let the trailer speak for itself:



So many families would benefit from the book, and Novacarta obviously recognise the importance of ensuring that the deep customisation accurately reflects the modern family unit.


Parents can choose from different art styles, each reflecting the story and their individual scenario

In their own words, Novacarta describe the book in more detail and outline their aims:

Explaining illness and its consequences to children is often a difficult and complex endeavour. A simple approach rarely reassures a child. It is therefore important to thematize the situation, the new daily routine and the specific changes the patient will go through. Studies done over the past 20 years show the importance, for children's well being, to include them in open discussions concerning a parent's illness. These studies explain that parents often find themselves lacking the appropriate means to have such discussions.

The importance of openly communicating about a parental cancer with children is imperative for their well being. Children who receive clear information throughout the period of a parent's illness are less anxious than those that do not. For certain illnesses, like breast cancer for example, dedicated books exist to treat the subject matter with kids. However, these books focus on one specific case and moreover reflect a standard family structure. However, the heterosexual married couple with kids reflects an outdated family configuration.

We know that in the United-States, 24 % of cancer patients have dependent children (the number goes as high as 33 % in the case of breast cancer). 

Some extra statistics on family :


  •  1.9 million single parent households in the UK in 2013 http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/family-demography/families-and-households/2013/stb-families.html?format=print 
  • 16.4 % of same sex couples (in US) have children

We can see that today children are growing up in families of many different configurations. Now, while these families may face discrimination in certain aspects of their lives, cancer doesn't discriminate and can unfortunately affect their lives. Our book can be adapted to all family structures and cancer types, so families that have as of yet not been represented in this type of literature can get a book they relate to.

Novacarta will use the ease of print on demand technology to create individualised books. By preparing a multitude of scenarios covering the problems involved in cancer,  Novacarta will select the appropriate ones for each patient, thus providing them with a story that best coincides with their specific situation.

A semi-automatic work flow will print the book, on demand, for the patient and then delivered by mail.


Please take a moment to visit the Novacarta kickstarter page and if you can, please pledge some money towards this amazing project.

Also find Novacarta on Facebook too.