Inspiration
As a recent MPH graduate, I was inspired to write this book as a result of my interest in health communications and my passion for working with youth. It has always been a dream of mine to write a rhyming poetry book for children, and given the pandemic and my public health background, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to fulfill that dream.
What it does
This book aims to explain COVID-19 to children in a lighthearted, engaging and educational manner. It looks to answer questions 6-9 year olds may have about the virus, as well as encourage different behaviors for protecting their physical and mental health during this challenging time. For parents, the goal of this book is provide them with a way to start a conversation about Coronavirus with their child by reading the book together and/or printing out the pages to allow their child to color the images.
How I built it
My process for creating this book was first to write the poetry verses, and then add simple illustrations to go along with those versus. First I brainstormed the different concepts I wanted to include. After that I created the rhyming scheme and developed individual versus. Next came designing the layout in Adobe Illustrator, and drawing all of the illustrations by hand.
Challenges I ran into
The biggest challenge I ran into was illustration. I chose to draw all of the images by hand, which was very time consuming.
Accomplishments that I'm proud of
I am really proud of the book overall as a whole. It was an awesome experience to be able to combine my public health knowledge, passion for working with youth and love of poetry writing to create something I hope can empower others during this stressful time.
What I learned
From writing this book I learned more about the virus itself and new strategies for engaging children in difficult topics.
What's next for "Curious About COVID-19"?
As a public health professional, I hope to share this book as widely as possible to help communicate important health information and educate families about the virus. Next steps include recording the poem as an audio book.
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