The Order of the Magic Bubble Wants YOU

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  Cover Page

Inspiration

The genesis of The Order of the Magic Bubble (notwithstanding its existence protecting humanity for generations) is the intersection of a few things, namely: my work on COVID-19 projects trying to use tech to measure social distancing (using the bubble motif), the need for a creative/artistic outlet, and hearing the painful stories of my friends' kids who were struggling to handle the pandemic. When I was a kid, books were an escape, salve, and inspiration -- I could only hope I could do that for a child in these challenging times!

Particular credit is due to:

• My parents (to whom I've dedicated this!): two elementary school teachers who really emphasized play and creativity -- imbuing with a different perspective and way of looking at things (hence why this is wrapped in a sense of "magic"). Also, my mother battled cancer while I was the age of this target audience -- so I can understand the struggle, confusion, and helplessness, so I was hoping to provide them a story that could ease those anxieties.

• A love for storytelling: Since I was a kid, I was always inspired by the stories of the "quest" -- and as we all embark on an unknown journey, I wanted to tell a story that drew on those archetypes to encourage them along this path.

• The everyday heroes: those on the frontlines of the COVID-19 fight, the essential workers still going to work under the cloud of COVID-19, the parents trying to juggle home/work/their own sanity, too many to list.

Objectives and key messages

Objectives:

• Make it informative, but not overbearing: there's so much to know about COVID-19 (and also so much we don't know!), so I wanted to keep it simple and tie it to things they could have control of in their own lives, hence the characteristics of coronavirus are tied to their actions.
• Put it in a unique wrapper: There's great content out there for kids on COVID-19; I wanted to give a new way to frame the conversation and introduce some
• Create a "call to action": I know kids love the idea of being a member of something -- and beyond being part of this community fighting this virus together, I thought this "Order" could introduce an ethos that they could live by.
• Write it for the steps ahead: the timing of the book is in a transition period for the pandemic -- so I wanted to write a bit ahead of the curve (no pun intended) so that it maintained relevance beyond the "shelter-in-place" orders.
• Small winks for the parents: there are some jokes in there that are probably a bit over the head of the kids, but there are some jokes that the parents might pick up (e.g., two of the heroes, Sir Ology = "Serology" -- an important part of antibody study, and Captain Dores = "Kept Indoors"). I remember re-watching Animaniacs and realizing how many jokes I could have only gotten after getting past the PG-13 age!

How it was conceived

Drawing on my health experience: I have spent a decade working in healthcare strategy around the world -- advising ministries/departments of health, health system executives, and in medtech startups, and have always had a passion to translate the stories of people into better care in our communities -- in narratives using data or their lived experiences. I saw this book as a challenge to turn one of the most sudden, drastic, and widespread impacts to our civilization into something that could inform, empower, and inspire children.

Primary and secondary research: I used 3 key sources to calibrate the messaging of my book, including:

• Conducting a 'meta-analysis' of what was out there: I had a look at probably two dozen or more books for kids on COVID-19 and guides for parents on how to speak to kids about the issue to identify their approaches, tone, common denominators in messaging, etc.
• Research on child psychology in the COVID-19 context: I sought out research/articles on what was being written by professionals, and there has been a lot written -- everything from resilience to anxiety management to social isolation. I also had the chance to speak to a couple of professionals for advice.
• Interviews: I spoke to parents to get a sense of how COVID-19 was impacting their kids, what are the questions they're being asked, and how they've been communicating with them. It's been a little heartbreaking to hear about how this has been impacting many of them (a lot as described by the psychologists), but I do admire how families have come together through the crisis!

Drawing on my COVID-19 experiences: Since early March, I have been involved with several tech-based COVID-19 projects trying to help with things ranging from public health communications platforms, to contact tracing to using smartphone technology like GPS and Bluetooth to help people be aware of and comply with social distancing. This is where the "bubble" concept originated -- because I found it was an easy way for people to perceive the idea of social distancing. The project, MyBubble, is a winner at the Pandemic Response Hackathon, Global Hack for COVID-19 Top 5 in Media & Entertainment, and is currently a finalist at the EUvsVirus hackathon!

Accomplishments that I'm proud of

This is my first book! My parents were teachers, so I hope they're proud! They probably have editing notes. Too bad for them I'm already "grounded" (under our public health orders, of course!)

Also, I did this in pretty short order coming out of the EUvsVirus Hackathon on Monday -- so I'm proud I was able to shift gears and get this started and done (with 29 minutes to spare!)

What I learned

1. It's much harder to write for kids than it is for technically-sophisticated adults: I have worked with CEOs and senior government officials, and writing reports/articulating ideas for them is far easier; that being said, I think I'd like to be able to more tersely communicate ideas as you would with a child.
2. It can be easier to write under pressure: Even with an initial concept, the 90% of the work was done over a very intense 36 hours -- as if the time crunch squeezed it out of me.
3. Empathy is critical: I had to shed what I knew about COVID-19 and suspend the way I rationalized things to understand how a child might think/worry/be inspired
4. Marker is hard to get out of clothes

What's next for The Order of the Magic Bubble Wants YOU

I'd love for it to help people and get as many new recruits to The Order of the Magic Bubble as possible! I'd also love to continue writing and collaborating with others. A lot of my health system design philosophy revolves around 'population empowerment', and this certainly taught me how to try to take complex ideas and communicate them simply -- a key part in making it actionable. I'd like to make it more accessible as well by recording a narrated/animated version of it, as well as write a follow-on depending on how the "new normal" turns out.

What's next for you? Hopefully you take the pledge to The Order of the Magic Bubble -- so you can stay out of that germ-y trouble!