MY MUMMY HAS A POORLY MIND
Brand-new illustrated story book exploring maternal mental health
THE SUN WILL SHINE AGAIN
MY MUMMY HAS A POORLY MIND
Brand new illustrated story book exploring maternal mental health
Written by Jane Fisher
Illustrations by Amy Dignam
Hello! We are Jane and Amy, an author and illustrator team. First and foremost we are mums, with authentic lived experience of maternal mental health problems. Out of this ‘The sun will shine again‘ was born. We want to bring hope to other mums and their families. We want to help women navigate the challenge of being a mum with mental health challenges.
This book is for us as well - to help explain to our children why sometimes mummy’s mind is poorly.
ABOUT THE BOOK
‘The sun will shine again’ is an illustrated children’s book exploring maternal mental health. It can be used by mums, other family members, schools and health professionals to start conversations and education around maternal mental health challenges. It does this through the beautifully illustrated story of Faith and her Mummy. Children will see the book as a story to be enjoyed again and again. It is not a textbook, but an engaging picture book that will sit on their bookshelf to be enjoyed day after day.
ABOUT US
Alongside our personal mental health challenges, we have a wide range of professional experience - Jane as a trained mental health professional, and Amy as an accomplished artist. We both advocate for maternal wellbeing on a national and well respected level. Between us we work with health professionals, other women, artists, schools, universities, NHS trusts, charities and national organisations. We are published in professional health journals, have been featured on national news, have founded organisations and work tirelessly to promote positive mental and emotional health. With our wealth of diverse experience, we make a tenacious and determined duo.
The text of the story came from Jane’s experience of maternal mental illness which began after the birth of her third child. The main motivation for the book came from a desire to explain to her eldest daughter, Faith, that mummy had a poorly mind. With Jane’s professional mental health background, she was all to aware of the need to speak openly with children about mental and emotional health. The book encapsulates the raw honesty and desire for Faith to know mummy’s poorly mind was no-ones fault and it did not change mummy’s love for her.
Jane faced head on the harrowing complexity of motherhood with mental illness, and crafted this heart warming story. She reads the book regularly to her own children as she continues to navigate motherhood with mental health challenges. The message of hope is woven throughout the text and images. It is a lesson to children and adults alike that if we wait patiently, the sun will always shine again.
Amy’s illustrations are engaging and captivating to both adults and children. They emotionally depict the struggles of motherhood and maternal mental distress. And they movingly portray hope, recovery and the power of the love between mother and child. They are inspired by Amy’s commitment to explore mental illness through creative practice.
Mental health problems affect up to one in five new mums. And they don’t just end there. One in four children under sixteen are estimated to have a mother with a mental illness. The human cost of maternal mental illness can be devastating and have a ripple affect on the whole family.
However we believe there is always hope. We believe that families can not only survive maternal mental illness, but thrive during and after. It does not have to negatively affect children for the rest of their lives as some may suggest. When handled with wisdom and sensitivity it has the power to help children develop resilience, knowledge, sensitivity, tolerance and emotional intelligence.
Childrens story book exploring maternal mental health and emotional wellbeing
BRAND NEW ILLUSTRATED STORY BOOK