A Story for Families Coping with Mental Health Issues
By Dr. Jacob L. Freedman
Illustrated by Mira Simon
“Me and Uncle Baruch”, the picture book, is based on my son’s personal memory and is, in a way, a “love letter” from my son to his observant Jewish community. It has become Jacob’s life work to destigmatize mental health issues and to help his community understand mental health concerns in an honest, open, and loving way. This book accomplishes this mission. It answers the question, “What do we tell the kids,” about a family member who is hospitalized for mental illness in a clear, easy and understandable way. The story presents the challenges to a family, particularly a nephew, whose beloved uncle has a mental health illness and must be hospitalized. In a gentle way, as if hugging each family member involved in this health crisis, the book simply presents the special relationship between the two of them, the breakdown of the uncle’s health, the hospitalization process and the presence of God within their lives. Please note, that because of its important message this story can and should be read and used with younger children of any religious affiliation to start a dialogue about these issues.
From previous entries in this blog, you know that I love children's books illustrations. I love the color, the design, the movement, the style, the details and feel that illustrations are as important as the words in a children’s picture book. As with many things I’ve learned about the Orthodox Jewish community, with time, I’ve learned to shift my negative bias of illustrations in Orthodox children’s books. I’ve come to understand why things are done differently in the Orthodox publishing world of picture books. The importance of the book is not in the pictures, which have been noted as “delightful” and “upbeat” in certain book reviews but that they should be simple, generic, and most definitely not detract from the Orthodox traditions of dress, activity, and commitment to God. Within those parameters, this book is quite successful.
This Librarian/Mother remains proud of her son and proud to share this piece of children’s literature.The major success of this book is in its calm and supportive presentation for families and young children of any religious denomination about mental illness. The questions provided at the end of the book and the addition of available resources make this a meaningful contribution to helping all of us with this problem.