Book to help children cope with coronavirus

United Nation Children’s Fund (Unicef) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) have launched a new storybook seeking to help children understand and cope with Covid-19

Known as “My Hero is You, How kids can fight Covid-19!” The storybook has a fantasy creature known as Ario.

It explains how children can protect themselves, their families and friends from coronavirus.

Storybook targets children aged between six and 11 years. It narrates how children can manage difficult emotions when confronted with a new and rapidly changing reality.

According to Unicef, school closures and lost incomes have had a negative impact on children globally.

 Psychologically children have been affected through loneliness due to social distancing rules.

Loss of jobs by their parents has also affected family incomes, feeding and other social economic activities. 

“This wonderful book helps children understand and navigate this new Covid-19 landscape and learn how they can take small actions to become the heroes in their own stories,” Henrietta Fore, Executive Director, Unicef.

 During the early stages of the project, more than 1,700 children, parents, caregivers and teachers from around the world shared how they were coping with the Covid-19 pandemic.

Input was invaluable to script writer and illustrator, Helen Patuck, and the project team in ensuring that the story and its messages resonated with children from different backgrounds and continents.

In order to reach as many children as possible, the book is being widely translated, with six language versions already released and more than 30 others in the pipeline.

It has been released as both an online product and audio book.