I wrote a children’s book to explain viruses to kids…. so you don’t have to

[kowalskil]

Hi all! I have a graduate degree in bioengineering, work in STEM, and doodle for fun. As the COVID-19 pandemic hit, I felt there was a ton of information being thrown at us all at once (and of it some misinformation). There was also a big gap of materials catered to kids that explains it in a simple, easy way. Sooo…. in my spare time, I wrote a children's picture book that explains Viruses and COVID-19 Pandemic (so you don't have to!).

I put up a digital copy for FREE here.

If you want, you can also buy a hard copy here.

Any support is very much appreciated! This is a part of a series where I try to explain more advanced STEM concepts to kids. I also wrote a book about CRSPR here.

TLDR; created a ELI5 picture book to explain viruses

 

[%E2%9C%9Ehunter]

@kowalskil This is great, thank you!! I kind of feel like I have adult relatives who would benefit from this, too :x

 

[kowalskil]

@%E2%9C%9Ehunter Thanks! That's why I wrote a bunch of footnotes for the adults.

 

[leematthew1234]

@kowalskil Hi. First off, I personally love this, it's well drawn, and informative... But it's also scary, kids in hospitals, the words "deadly" etc. Ofc it's important that kids take it seriously and practise good hygiene but it makes me doubt it will help those in my moms group.

They have 3 year olds with bad anxiety, germaphobic and panicking to adjust their masks when joggers get too close, asking their parents if the parents/grandparents are going to heaven, being sad and moody, attacking siblings... The little ones just can't understand it and it's hard to know if the answer is to give ALL the information (which is hard because we dont know ourselves yet, timeline of vaccine etc) or try to give good advice while doing our best to be reassuring.

On balance I think a kids book needs to be informative AND reassuring, or maybe this ones for 7+ or something. Apologies for the ramble and the criticism, I'm sure others will disagree, just my two cents. I think a lot of adults would benefit from the book as it's very well out together.

 

[waterflow]

@leematthew1234 I wrote a "social story" about COVID-19 for my 2.5 year old upon recommendation from a psychologist I have seen about my daughter's anxious temperament. I have read quite a bit of info on anxiety and found that some of my daughter's post-covid behaviours (more tantrums, more defiance, more stuttering, etc.) have decreased since reading this story to her (among other things). I didn't want to post it originally because it is personal, but I decided to change all the names and block out the faces so you can get an idea of what could be created for very young children who may be feeling scared and anxious but are definitely not going to understand most of the children's stories that have been written (nothing against those stories, but they are usually aimed at school-aged kids). Maybe this social story might help some of the moms in your group!

Two key factors in my stories (in case you plan on writing your own )

1. Every word is known to my daughter. No new vocab. I would make an exception for the word "covid" or "virus" if that was being said a lot in the home, but my daughter doesn't hear those words so I didn't include it in my book.
2. The story is extremely personal (with lots of pictures) so she relates to each page.