By Shriya Roy
With the global Covid-19 pandemic forcing the world indoors, one of the hardest hit are children who have been confined to their houses unable to go out and play or even attend school. Unlike adults who can read and watch the news, kids are often left with many questions regarding what’s happening around them and trying to make sense of things. The bottomline is coping with a pandemic is hard for adults, but it is even harder for children.
But there’s help at hand now for harried parents in the form of the book, Coronavirus: A Book for Children, which explains the coronavirus to children, helping allay their curiosity about the virus. The book, a collaboration between children’s book publisher Nosy Crow and award-winning illustrator Axel Scheffler, is written by Nosy Crow staffers Elizabeth Jenner, Kate Wilson and Nia Roberts. It also has expert inputs from Graham Medley, a professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
What is the coronavirus? How do you catch it? What happens if you catch it? Why are people worried about it? Is there a cure? Why are some places we normally go to are closed? What can one do to help? What’s going to happen next? All these questions are answered in the most gentle and informative manner in extremely simplistic language. The language of the book, in fact, makes it accessible to every child.
The illustrations by Scheffler are precise too and place the children in the middle of a situation in the picture rather than them being just an audience. This makes the unknown part of the current situation less scary and easier to deal with for kids. Interestingly, the publishing house is offering the book, available in ebook format, free of cost to anyone who wants to read it.
Book details
Coronavirus: A Book for Children
Elizabeth Jenner, Kate Wilson & Nia Roberts; illustrated by Alex Scheffler
Nosy Crow/HarperCollins
Pp 15
