Alligators and tigers can be white. Lobsters can be blue. One in twelve people have a rare disease. So what should we do? To raise the profiles of rare diseases, "the underdogs of health care," Deborah Katz, an artist and nursing professor with twenty years of experience in health care, has produced Rare is Everywhere (Miss Bird / Sandhill $19.95) in an attempt to educate children about nature and make them feel better if they have a rare disease or an anomaly that makes them feel different. The overriding message about strange animals comes at the end: "So if you ever feel different, like a white spirit bear, you don't have to worry because, Rare is EVERYWHERE!" Proceeds go to the Rare Disease Foundation, started in Vancouver in 2007. A rare disease is defined as a condition affecting fewer than one in 2,000 people. There are more than 7,000 known rare diseases. This book was shortlisted for a Vine Award in 2018. The Vine Awards honour both the best Canadian Jewish writers and Canadian authors who deal with Jewish subjects 978-0-9958261-0-6

[BCBW 2017]