A story about a boy with leukemia. Written by his older sister.
Tyrese is my little brother, and he is pretty good, as far as little brohters go. He does have his moments where he can drive me absolutely bonkers; but I can't imagine my life without him. He is that special to me.
Tyrese is four, and he is a beautiful little boy with a round-cheeked face the color of cafe' au lait, huge, sparkling brown eyes that can melt your heart, and a dimpled smile that lights up an entire room.
He is also very sick. He has leukemia.
He has had leukemia for two years now, and every month he has to go to the hospital for chemotherapy treatments. He has no hair on his little head, and his little arms are covered with bruises from needles and constant pokes; but he is a very brave little guy. He knows he is sick, and he knows that the pokes are necessary to help make him better. But it still isn't easy when he cries during the times he has his bone marrow tests, which is where they take a sample of marrow from his little hip. That can be very painful, and when he has this done, his pitiful cries tear out my heart each and every time.
Because of his having leukemia, Tyrese has to stay inside becaue his immune system is weakened, and if he should get a cold or a bug, it can prove to be fatal to him. So we try our best to entertain him with books or kid-friendly movies and television shows we have on tape, and we also play with his blocks and play games with him. Anything to try to keep him from becoming bored.
Tyrese loves to watch tv (his favorite show is "America's Most Talented Kid", which premiered last night; all during the hour, he sat there and didn't move a muscle), dance, sing, and color. He also loves to annoy his sisters (my name is Kandace, and I am 10; there's also Kori, who is eight, and the baby, Kenya, who is one-and-a-half), and "read" (he looks at the pictures mostly, and we read to him; and he sometimes pretends he is reading a story). He acts like a normal little boy, but you know, by looking at him, that Tyrese is indeed very sick. He is pale of face, and big circles surround his eyes; and his head is as bald as a cue ball; and then you see his bruised-up arms and the tubing that feeds him medication. (The tube goes into his chest; it's called a central line, and this is where he gets his meds; this saves him from getting more pokes than what he already does). It is really hard having a person in your family with something like cancer because you don't know what the next day may bring, and cancer is always a serious thing. It can also kill, and I am always so scared that Tyrese will get worse and then die; and then I wouldn't know what I would do. His death would probably kill me. He is just a child; he doesn't deserve this cancer stuff! :(
Pengey Penguin takes us on a memorable journey where an unlikely character, twists of fate, and minor miracles help him and his rag-tag Army of little fury animals save Christmas.325 page read to me 4-8 - 9 up reads very quickly.
Day's End Lullaby is a sweet and melodic bedtime picture book intended to help lull little ones to sleep. As an added feature, the accompanying sheet music is included.
