Coronavirus: Why is life different for you and for me

Prior to school closures, my first-grade niece came home from school petrified by something called “rona.” She was scared, was having nightmares, and had a lot of questions. Grace and I were inspired to create a book explaining coronavirus to children because we know children, like my niece, have questions and we believe that they need simple digestible answers. ## Inspiration

I used CDC guidelines from the "Talking with children about Coronavirus Disease 2019" webpage to create our messaging and also asked children what they wanted to know. After I finished writing, she read the poem to parents and to children ages 6-9 and made edits based on their feedback. One of the challenges about writing about a scary topic such as coronavirus is that this is a time full of uncertainty and rife with conflicting messaging.

Grace and I wanted to be honest and convey factual information without lying to or frightening children. We wanted to empower kids to feel like they could have a role in keeping themselves, their families, and friends safe. We decided on to utilize the rhyming format because it is known to engage kids and help them remember key messaging. We also believe that it lends a lighter touch to a serious topic. We struggled with how to tell children that they could be carriers, but we felt it was essential to explain. After all, it is a reality – a reality that we all must acknowledge in order to slow the spread of disease. ## Challenges we ran into. We also chose animal friends for their universal appeal and to transcend race.

Grace loved the rhythm of the prose and its connection to the children’s books of her childhood. She looked to the bright and magical worlds of Goodnight Moon and Arthur for visual cues and inspirations. To create a visual rhythm, Grace juxtaposed more intricate detail scenes with expressive minimalist character illustrations. She added little moments for the reader to find, i.e. the coronavirus character walking into the sunset or the happy birthday lyrics swirling in the sink. To build upon the nostalgic style from her childhood, she gave the illustrations a sensory texture. We built a world that was pleasant and friendly to children but did not shy away from the realities of our current situation. ##HowIBuiltIt

We learned that we are a good team! Neither of us have ever written or illustrated a book. We have never worked together and we both hope to continue working together in the future. We also learned that we LOVE creating books for children! ## What we learned

No matter what the outcome, we are tremendously proud to be participants in this competition. We are also immensely proud of our ability to rhyme while delivering “the facts” and to create endearing illustrations to make the most of our audience’s imagination. ## Accomplishments that we are proud of

Finally, we both believe that knowledge is power and have personally found comfort in learning more about this complex illness. We thought children would also find comfort in knowing what the virus is, how it spreads, and how they can help. We truly hope this book helps alleviate anxiety, validates their feelings, and empowers children to be germ fighting stars!

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