Sussex children’s author releases book about the importance of mental wellbeing after first year of son’s battle against leukaemia

Hannah Peckham, 43, from Hurstpierpoint, releases The Get Well Spell, with beautiful illustrations by Hanna Tkachenko, on February 1.She will visit several book shops, including: The Book Nook in Hove on February 10 (11am); the Royal Alexandra Children’s Hospital, Brighton, on February 10 (TBC); Bags of Books in South Street, Lewes, on February 12 (10.30am); and Steyning Bookshop on February 16 (11am).

The shops are taking part in a ‘buy one, give one’ arrangement in February where a copy of Hannah’s book is donated to Rockinghorse Children’s Charity for each copy sold.

Hannah said: “The book is a gentle story trying to promote the lessons of mental wellbeing.”

It tells the tale of Morris, a little unicorn who likes to help but finds himself feeling sad and worn out. Morris goes on a quest to find a ‘Get Well Spell’, meeting colourful characters like dragons and mermen. He eventually realises that true magic can be found in the care people give to themselves.

Hannah, who offers wellbeing workshops and author talks at schools, said: “I often ask the children ‘there’s one other person it’s really important to be kind to and who’s that?’ Lots of them say ‘mummies and daddies’ and their brothers and their friends and their teachers and God.”

Hannah said: “But very rarely do they say they should be kind to themselves. Being a counsellor and a mother, I think it’s really important.”

She said: “Storytime is a really great place to start building foundations of mental wellbeing and empathy.”

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Hannah explained that wellbeing became particularly important after her young son Bodhi was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in 2022.

She said: “The first night we got the diagnosis, I remember lying in bed. I’m a bit of a worrier and I could have easily gone onto the internet and starting looking up things.” But she said to herself ‘no, tonight I’ve got to sleep because tomorrow we’ve got to fight’. She said: “I knew I had to be okay because if I was going to be okay then Bodhi would be okay.”

Hannah said she wrote her book before Bodhi’s diagnosis so she had ‘a little unicorn’ sitting on her shoulder last year urging her to take care of herself too.

Hannah said Bodhi has been ‘amazing’ through the treatments. She said: “We often talk about feelings. He grew up with Conker the Chameleon, my first book, so he talks about feelings and does breathing exercises.”

She said Bodhi is ‘wonderful’ at the moment, calling him ‘a force of nature’ but said treatment is ‘gruelling’.

She said: “We just finished his round of chemo yesterday (January 10). He was in the week before for a lumbar puncture and spinal chemo and he’s on medication every night.” She said: “His prognosis is positive, but the journey is still long.”

Hannah and Bodhi made national headlines last year when Hannah joined childhood friend Holly Willoughby on This Morning to encourage people to put their pants on their head for a Leukaemia UK fundraiser. Hannah, who attended Burgess Hill Girls and is Zoe Ball’s stepsister, also attempted to set a world record for ‘most amount of people wearing their pants on their heads’.