Wishes and Worries: A story to help children understand a parent who drinks too much alcohol

Centre for Addiction and Mental Health; illustrated by Ben Hodson 2005.

Children living with a parent dealing with substance use and/or mental health problems often have important and unanswered questions.

• Why does my mom or dad act the way she or he does?
• Will mom or dad get better?
• Why is my family so different?
• Is it my fault?
• Will it happen to me?

CAMH's storybooks for children are engaging, clinically grounded educational resources - the first of their kind to be published in Canada. They offer a starting point for a discussion about problems in the family, and offer answers to common questions kids have. The storylines and the illustrations reflect ethnocultural diversity, making these books highly accessible and relevant to a broad range of children.

Wishes and Worries tells the story of Maggie and her struggle to understand her father's problem with alcohol.

In this new book, Maggie wishes that her ninth birthday party will be better than her eighth. What a mess that was! Her father had been drinking and totally embarrassed her in front of her friends. Over the year, Maggie begins to get answers to some of her questions as she talks to her teacher, her school counsellor and her parents about her father's problem with alcohol and how it affects everyone in the family. She learns that she is not responsible for her father's drinking, that it's OK to reach out for help, and that there are people in her life that she can trust and talk to about her feelings.

This book will be helpful for:

• children aged five to 10 years old
• parents and other family members
• teachers, school counsellors and librarians
• addiction and mental health professionals.

Book Covers and Sample Pages

Front cover	Sample Page 1	Sample Page 2	Back cover

Read some reviews of Wishes and Worries:

• CM Magazine: Canadian Review of Materials
• Midwest Book Review
• Resource Links

Wishes and Worries has been awarded Curriculum Services Canada's CSC Seal, recommending it as a reference for teachers and other school professionals who work with children and youth.

Ordering Information

• full colour illustrations • ISBN 0-88868-493-2
• 32 pages • paperback • $9.95
• published 2005 • product code P5599

Download a PDF version of the order form for this and other Children's Storybooks.

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