Coronavirus Comes to Fairville

Writing this children’s book felt like something that was meant for me to do, for a number of reasons. I work as a psychologist with traumatized young children in New Orleans, LA. Obviously, New Orleans has had its share of hard times and trauma over the years. As such, we were prepared to spring into action when the COVID-19 crisis began. In the last month I have been leading initiatives to provide virtual stress-management breaks for our medical staff and other community groups, to offer virtual parent education workshops weekly in partnership with our local children’s museum, and to provide an online set of tips for parenting during a pandemic. My role as a mental health professional is complemented by my longstanding interest in reading and creative arts. As a child I quite seriously told adults I would be an “author and illustrator” when I grew up! I always loved textural and mixed-media artwork, as well as photography. So I was immediately inspired by the idea of writing a book to help children (and their parents) learn about COVID-19 and support their ability to cope well during this pandemic. Incorporating simple but colorful, textural, and childlike illustrations tapped into my early love of paper dolls and mixed-media art.

This book provides age-appropriate messages about COVID-19, including the changes children may be experiencing, information about preventive health practices, and suggestions about positive coping strategies. The information is given in a narrative manner, embedded in a story, to optimize children’s engagement in learning. The story also includes a diverse set of characters (within the limited context of a children’s book) without specific explanations, in an attempt to honor the reality of diversity in our nation and the world.

I built the storybook largely by hand first! I created the illustrations using a scrapbook-style approach – drawing and cutting out characters, creating miniature tableaus, and fitting the pieces together with scissors and glue. I printed the text of the story and added it to illustrations by hand, again in scrapbook style. Finally, I scanned the finished pages into PDF format and combined them into one file using Adobe Acrobat Pro (with guidance from an MIT-educated friend of mine; I’m not very tech-savvy!).

The two main challenges I ran into were: 1) finding crafting supplies on short notice during the pandemic shutdowns, and; 2) Creating the book in only four days! I was able to find supplies at a Michael’s, venturing into the store with my face mask (sewn by my sister and mailed from out of state) after a 45-minute wait outside in order to limit customers in the store to ten at a time. I then had 10 minutes to shop before the store closed! As mentioned earlier, I’ve also been working very long hours setting up supportive programming for parents, medical professionals, and others recently. I took two vacation days, combined them with a weekend, and dedicated that time to creating and executing my idea of what the storybook might be!

The accomplishment that I’m most proud of is trying something completely new (illustrating a story) and managing to produce a story in four days.

I learned that I need glasses! More seriously, I learned that the process of writing a children’s book is even more invigorating and fun than I had imagined. I also learned how to merge individual PDF files into one PDF document (again, not tech savvy!).

What’s next for this children’s book? Of course, I hope it is selected and published through the Emory Global Health Institute to reach a broad audience of children and families. I hope it can be shared with mental health providers, pediatricians, community-based educational resources, such as children’s museums, community social service agencies, and teachers.

Built With

• adobe