Sudbury father writes book in support of Sick Kids Hospital

Sudbury dad pens book to raise money for Sick Kids A Sudbury man writes a new children's book to raise money for Sick Kids with a lesson from his own childhood. Watch Lyndsay Aelick reports.

What started out as a lesson on memorizing the planets, then turned into a rap song, and has now become a new children’s book.

Kristofer Cacciotti, the author of “My Very Excellent Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizzas,” says he and a friend had planned on creating an children’s educational YouTube channel, but when the idea fell through, he knew he had to still get the rhyme down on paper.

The title is from a lesson that Cacciotti learned in school as a way to remember the order of the planets. The names Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto were more easily remembered with the first letters making up the mnemonic: “My very excellent mother just served us nine pizzas.”

The book takes readers from earth all the way through the solar system and teaches many interesting facts along the way.

“This is how I remembered the name of the planets growing up. However, as you read in this book, Pluto has now not been considered an official planet since 2006. So, now, instead of “serving nine pizzas,” Mom serves us “nachos.”

The book is available for purchase in person at PL Bargain Deals on Lasalle Boulevard and Serendipity Day Spa on Durham Street, where owner, Monique Lacasse is happy to help with the sales.

“The more I can do for the community the better and so for us, it was just an easy thing to do, and it’s for a great cause. A lot of clients are coming up and even people that we don’t even know are coming up to get a book and we’re not necessarily the easiest place to tackle or to get to, but they’re making their way up here and they’re purchasing it in support of the family,” she said.

Cacciotti says “It’s humbling and a little bit overwhelming how much support there actually is.”

Two dollars from the sale of every book will be donated to Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto, which is a place close to Cacciotti’s heart.

“Our son, Everett, was born with a severe heart disease called Ebstein’s Anomaly, and they treated him in-utero for six weeks. They performed open heart surgery on him at birth, another open heart surgery at seven months, and he’s actually at Sick Kids right now recovering from open heart surgery number three.”

It’s been just over two weeks since the book was first made available to the public, and already, 300 copies have been purchased.

You can also order a copy by contacting the author on Facebook or Instagram, or by emailing him at [e-mail].