KINGSTON, Ont. — The Royal Canadian Legion, the Canadian Institute for Military and Veteran Health Research (CIMVHR) and Canadian Forces Morale and Welfare Services (CFMWS) have teamed up to launch the first four in a series of free online storybooks — including one narrated by Canadian Armed Forces Veteran and retired astronaut, Chris Hadfield — to help children from military, veteran and public safety personnel (PSP) families build strengths and coping skills.
Adapted from award-winning Australian storybooks and grounded in Canadian research and the lived experiences of Canadian military families, the books — available in English and French — are unique in Canada. The four adapted storybooks are the first evidence-based military children’s books available online for free in this country.
Using Canadian settings, characters, animals and other Canadian cultural references, the illustrated books tell stories that reflect the experiences and feelings of young children with a parent who is serving in the military, a Veteran or working as a police officer, firefighter or in another public safety profession.
Children from military, Veteran and PSP families face unique challenges, including frequent and prolonged separations from a parent, frequent moves to new communities and possibly a parent with a service-related injury.
The stresses put on the families can interfere with child development, especially in the crucial first six years of life. However, until now there has been a lack of age- and culturally appropriate evidence-based resources to support these children in Canada.
CIMVHR and CFMWS partnered with Dr. Marg Rogers, a Doctor of Early Childhood Education at the University of New England, and a Research Fellow with the Manna Institute, Australia. Who is the author of the original Australian version of the books, to create the Canadian adaptations.
They also worked with a pan-Canadian group of military/Veteran/PSP families, military family researchers, educators, psychiatrists, an Indigenous languages professor and French-language partners to ensure that the books reflected Canadian research, Canadian culture and Canadian military family experiences.
The Royal Canadian Legion provided $100,000 to facilitate the creation of the Canadian adaptations of the books.
“A key focus of the Legion is supporting our youth,” says Legion National Executive Director Randy Hayley. “These books are amazing tools that will both support youth from military and other first responder families while at the same time, help educate a wider audience on what it’s like to be part of such a family.”
Three of the books — Our Alphabet Roller Coaster — The ABC’s of Training and Deployment, read aloud by Colonel (Retd.) Chris Hadfield, D is for Deployment: Emma Raps it Up and My Colourful Kite — address issues related to parents leaving and working away from home for long periods. They are suitable for all children regardless of whether they have a parent in the military or in a public safety profession.
The fourth book – And so, things have been a bit different: Oliver’s Story — contains sensitive content and is suited for children who have a parent with a service-related injury.
“These books serve as both a mirror and a beacon for young children, reflecting their realities while guiding them through a roller coaster of emotions that comes with their journey in a military family,” notes CIMVHR Associate Scientific Director, Stephanie A.H. Belanger.
“Seeing other children experience similar situations, such as saying goodbye to a parent who is deploying or living with a parent with a service-related injury, helps to normalize their situation. It also gives them a sense of belonging and agency as they see their own lives reflected in children’s literature,” adds Lynda Manser, Associate Vice President, Research & Innovation at Military Family Services.
Each book also includes resources for parents and educators, including academic references, related activities for children and links to additional resources including both Australian and Canadian input.
Dr. Rogers and her team in Australia have created 12 storybooks and there are plans to adapt more of them for Canada.
The Canadian adaptations — including the video of Col. (Retd.) Hadfield’s reading — are available online at no cost on the CFMWS website where military families go for resources. They can also be found on the CIMVHR website, for the research and public safety personnel communities. Funding from the three groups has also provided softcover print versions of each book in both official languages donated to libraries located at the Military Family Resource Centres across Canada and around the world.
The printed books will also soon be available for purchase at cost through The Royal Canadian Legion’s web store (https://www.poppystore.ca/), and more will be distributed in the new year to public libraries across Canada in towns with military bases.
QUOI Media Group
CIMVHR
Founded in 2010 by Queen’s University and the Royal Military College of Canada, the Canadian Institute for Military and Veteran Health Research (CIMVHR) has built a network of 46 Canadian universities that have agreed to work together to address the health research requirements of the Canadian military, Veterans and their families. The institute acts as a conduit between the academic community and research funding organizations. On behalf of funding organizations, CIMVHR distributes requests-for-proposals to researchers through its network of universities and manages the task through the scientific peer-review process to the completion of the project.
