Overnight, a pandemic changed the world. Suddenly conversation is about germs, viruses and bacteria. We’re learning new terms, like stay-at-home orders, social distancing and quarantine. We’re disinfecting everything from shopping carts to gas pumps. Everyone is donning masks – not just bank robbers.
Memorial Day is the official start of summer – and no one knows what this summer will bring. Many venues are closed and summer events, like outdoor concerts, have been canceled.
We want to explain this new, surreal reality to our children. As a teenager, I was fascinated by The Microbe Hunters by Paul de Kruif (1890–1971). Though written in 1926, the author was able to make microbiology exciting. The nonfiction book reads like a novel, with vivid characters and a dramatic plot.
Today, pandemic-themed kids’ books are popping up like dandelions in the yard. Catchy titles, like Sharona Corona, Paula and the Pandemic, Lucy and the Corona Virus, Little Unicorn Stuck at Home, the Day the Lines Changed.
Other titles are more straightforward: Sophie’s Questions about the Pandemic; Where did everybody go? What is Social Distancing? What’s a Quarantine? Not forever but for now: A story for children about feelings and the coronavirus.
Books about staying at home or social distancing include A Little SPOT Stays Home and Stuck in the Dog House. Other titles, like Keep away from Germs and The Coronavirus Monster: An Unwanted Visitor from the Germ Planet, discuss controlling germs by handwashing. There’s even a coloring book: Understanding the Coronavirus – COVID-19 Coloring Activity Book for Kids.
Most of these books are self-published in a hurry by well-meaning folks with few credentials in medicine or literature. However, three stand out above the rest.
Coronavirus: A Book for Children, by Elizabeth Jenner and Axel Scheffler, the illustrator of “The Gruffalo,” and the staff of publisher Nosy Crow. This book, for children aged 5 – 12, was created with input from educators, a child psychologist, and experts at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. It is based on scientific facts, and written in a kid-friendly way. It attempts to explain what the virus is, how it is caught, and why so many things – from schools to restaurants, stores and playgrounds – are closed.
What Is COVID-19? (Engaging Readers) by Alexis Roumanis, published by Engage Books. These are three volumes of early readers, from Level 1 (32 pages, for children aged 3 – 6) to Level 4 (48 pages, for ages 9 – 11) that aim to explain the covid pandemic to children at different levels.
Anna and the Germ that came to visit by Christianne Klein and Helene Van Sant-Klein, published by Truth Fairy Media. Christianne is an award-winning news anchor; Helene is a licensed clinical counselor, family therapist, and registered nurse with experience in parenting and trauma. The mother-and-daughter team brings their expertise in bibliotherapy, counseling and media to the subject of the pandemic.
This list is only a start, since new books on this subject are emerging daily. I hope you will find some of them helpful.
Emory University held a competition for writers and illustrations of books about COVID-19. The winners can be found here:
http://globalhealth.emory.edu/what/events_programs/COVID-19%20eBook%20Comp.html
The Wonder of Words 