"The tales of Mingabe" form a beautiful book that has just seen the light and that aims to make fibromyalgia known through children's and youth stories for all ages and a comic.
Andoni Penacho, president of the Fibromyalgia Disclosure Association, embarked on this spoiled project whose ultimate goal is not to sell books but to spread the disease. That is why we can download, watch, read and listen to the stories through the Fibro.es website during 2010, and I recommend that you take a look, it is really worth it.
The project arose from the need to invent a children's story that could explain fibromyalgia to the little ones, a disease that suffers approximately 3% of the population, mostly women. The story would serve as support for fathers and mothers to convey to your children what this disease is so complex and difficult to understand.
But once the initiative was launched, they realized that it was difficult to create just one story, and thus the idea of collecting several stories aimed at different ages, and even a comic for all ages, dedicated to the Syndrome of Chronic fatigue
"Mingabe" is the name of one of the characters that appears in the stories, a symbolic name, because it comes from Basque with the meaning of "unscathed, painless."
At story for children from 0 to 6 years, "Manu and Gus"Manu is discovering little by little why his mother is sick and there are days when he cannot play with him. Her father explains that she should not be angry with her, that what happens to her is that she has a lot of pain.
Thus the child discovers that he has gone to the doctor many times but that the medicine that he is given does not cure him at all, and that after a few bad days, better ones come. In addition, Manu learns that the best medicine to help mom does not sell it in pharmacies but they have it at home, and it is honey, honey syrup.
A beautiful story that I recommend you read with the kids, or listen to the audio version. All the stories and their illustrations are the result of a careful elaboration, as well as the audio, of great quality, and in which voices as well-known as that of the athlete Almudena Cid or the presenter Anne Igartiburu participate. These are "Mingabe's tales":
- "Manu y Gus" (from 0 to 6 years old), by Beatriz Berrocal, illustrated by Alicia Cañas and narrated by Magda Labarga.
- "The things that matter" (from 6 to 8 years old), by Marta Rivera de la Cruz, illustrated by Violeta Lópiz and narrated by Manuela Vellés.
- "Danieloto and the wooden box" (from 8 to 10 years old), by Mar Santos, illustrated by Lucía Serrano and narrated by Conchita.
- "The Northern Lights" (from 10 to 12 years old), by Toti Martínez de Lezea, illustrated by Silvia Bautista and narrated by Cristina Verbena.
- "The lady of the caves" (from 12 to 16 years old), by Silvia Pazos, illustrated by Cecilia Varela and narrated by Anne Igartiburu.
- "That white house number 42" (from 16 to 101 years old), by Cecilia Peñacoba, illustrated by Noemí Villamuza and narrated by Patricia Urrutia.
- "The true and amazing story of Sleeping Beauty" (comic, from 0 to 101 years old), by Silvia Pazos, illustrated by Patricia Castelao and narrated by Marta escudero.
As I say, the stories can be read and heard online, but if a reader would like to buy the edited book, it can be done from some outlets in Spain, in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Madrid, Barcelona, A Coruña, Zaragoza and Seville. It is a beautiful edition that costs approximately 17 euros.
It includes a separata as a didactic guide to extract all the teachings of each story and take advantage of its possibilities with small readers.
Definitely, 'The tales of Mingabe' constitute a fantastic approach to fibromyalgia disease which helps parents explain it to their children in a simple, entertaining, direct and dramatic way. And that also serves for adults to reflect and get excited about their stories.
Official Site | Fibro More information | Blank Paper On Babies and more | TaleAutismo, children's stories to raise awareness about autism, "My brother has autism", a story for children to understand this disorder, what happens to you mom ?, a book helps very useful, 'Pepe told us': children's story for the children of parents with cancer
