Happy Nappy Storytelling featuring Phyllisa Deroze & Jalanah Deroze

About the authors:

Dr. Phyllisa Smith Deroze and Jalanah Deroze are a dynamic mother-and-daughter team broadening diabetes awareness. Dr. Deroze is a global diabetes advocate and Founder of Black Diabetic Info, and the blog Diagnosed Not Defeated. She was inspired to write this book with her 7-year-old daughter after seeing Jalanah mimic checking her blood sugar at three years old. After discovering that there were no age-appropriate diabetes resources to explain diabetes to a child who wasn't diagnosed with diabetes, Dr. Deroze knew the two would write one. Diabetes Helpers is a pioneering children's book, and it is the first children's book to honor children who have loved ones in their lives with diabetes. The book also covers three types of diabetes; type 1, type 2, and Latent Autoimmune Diabetes in Adults. Follow along as Jalanah helps her mother, Grace helps her brother, and Antonio helps his grandfather live happier with diabetes.

About the book: 

This pioneering children's book about diabetes is the first book to focus on children who help their loved ones with diabetes and to combine conversations about three types of diabetes into one book. If you're looking for a kid-friendly way to discuss diabetes, this book is for you. Readers follow three characters, Jalanah, Grace, and Antonio, as they show the small ways they help their loved ones. There is a surprise coloring book at the end that encourages children to further engage with the book and define themselves as a diabetes helper too. This mother-daughter duo wrote diabetes helpers to encourage others. Dr. Deroze lives with Latent Autoimmune Diabetes in Adults, and her seven-year-old daughter, Jalanah, is her diabetes helper. Jalanah has learned how to run to the fridge in a flash and bring her mother juice to correct hypoglycemia, as she's learned how to read and write. For all the kids who have or who are learning about diabetes as they are learning about the world, this book recognizes them. Reading Level: Perfect to read to elementary age and can be read independently at the 2nd-grade reading level.