Children’s Migraine Book Review: Why Mommy’s Head Hurts

Today we’re going to take a look at the children’s book “Why Mommy’s Head Hurts: A Migraine Story” by Ryan Williams.

And, of course, I’ll explain who my little “friend” is.

A quick search on Amazon for children’s books about migraine will convince anyone that there was a gap to be filled. Material about migraine especially for kids is rarer than it should be.

Enter Ryan Williams. Someone with the title of Marketing Director at StudyKIK would seem like an unlikely candidate for a children’s book author, but this actually isn’t his first book.

It will help to know that Ryan actually helps to connect patients to clinical trials, and so has a lot of contact with patients with all kinds of struggles. And so he has successfully Kickstarted books on Alzheimer’s Disease and Crohn’s Disease, as well as migraine.

So let’s get into the book! It’s a high quality large hardback, glossy, lots of colour – so far so good for young children!

And looking at the cover below, you’ll see two creatures – a cuddly fuzzy green one, and a nasty toothy red-eyed purple one.

So without giving away the whole story, here’s what happens. A young adventurer sails to a mysterious island, and adopts several mysterious creatures, which he calls migrans.

But early on, he discovers that these creatures can be “irritated” in various ways, turning them into the scary purple monsters. And so he finds ways to keep them green and cuddly.

By now you’ve probably guessed that the green creatures represent a happy, healthy head. The purple ones represent a head in the midst of a migraine attack. And so the book the children about triggers and simple ways to calm the migraine beast.

You might guess what the challenge of the author is here. First, not everyone shares the same “triggers”. Migraine attacks, even for a single person, may get started because of one thing one day, and one thing another day.

The other challenge is that the focus on triggers means that there’s no time to talk about some of the wider issues, such as preventative treatments and lifestyle changes.

But, after all, this is a children’s book with a single purpose. Let’s not make things too complicated.

Let’s put it this way. This book is not a medical treaties. Neither is it a replacement for a talk between an adult and a child. It’s a conversation starter. It’s a way to start talking about migraine. And a way for young kids to learn how they might even be able to help Mom or Dad when the migraine monster hits.

After all, it’s easy enough for the parent or adult friend to say, “It’s different for me. For me, this would be more helpful.” Or, “Sometimes this food doesn’t bother me.”

And so I give this book a thumbs up for opening the door to what sometimes might be a difficult conversation. It’s colourful, fun, and would look great in a doctor’s office or on your own coffee table.

Ryan kindly sent me this book to review, and also sent me the actual migran shown in the picture. Which so far, thanks to careful care, has remained his green, squishy self.* Or – is it a girl? How do you tell with migrans? Never mind, I don’t need to know.

Anyway, you might be able to catch a copy of Why Mommy’s Head Hurts on Amazon (and by the way, this is not a “board book” as the listing currently says. It’s a hardcover). But to get the full-meal-deal with the cute migran and all, go to Etsy.

* No, the stuffed creature actually does not change colour or become a monster, no matter what you do to it. It stays just the way it is in the picture. I just like to pretend. 😀