Coronavirus: A Book for Children is a new picture book from Nosy Crow and Candlewick Press. This free digital book can help adults answer kids’ questions about the reason why the world has turned upside down.
Its pages offer a reassuring orientation, explaining what the new virus is and why it has become a serious problem. The digital book elegantly conveys information that is not easy to carry out without causing terror, including the fact that some people have to go to hospitals and need help to breathe due to the coronavirus. The book doesn’t minimize or exaggerate the fact, but it isn’t bleak or lacking in humor.
It explains restrictions that small kids have trouble accepting under any circumstances, such as why they have to wash their hands, why they can’t play with their friends, what adults may be worried about, why adults may be short-tempered.
And the best thing about the book is that it gives kids a gift: the truth that they have some positive and important contributions to make. They can help in protecting our most vulnerable members from the pandemic.
The book’s final page also includes resources websites in the United States that readers can find useful information.
This free digital book was created by a group of volunteers who are writers and editors of imprint Nosy Crow of the independent publishing house Candlewick Press in the UK. They took expert advice from the professor of infectious disease modeling, headteachers, and clinical psychologist specializing in child mental health.
Axel Scheffler, the illustrator, wrote and illustrated two kid’s series but is best known for his work in The Gruffalo – Julia Donaldson’s best-seller.
The creators are Kate Wilson, managing director and founder of the publisher, who has worked for 15 years at Nosy Crow in London; Elizabeth Jenner, a writer and editor specializing in children’s nonfiction, and Nia Roberts, who has worked in children’s publishing for over 20 years.