'Coronavirus: A book for children about COVID-19'

'Coronavirus: A book for children about COVID-19' by Elizabeth Jenner, Kate Wilson and Nia Roberts, illustrated by Axel Scheffler, published by Nosy Crow, 2020

Giving information in a clear and informative way, this collaboratively produced book was aimed at young children and their families. When published in April 2020, the United Kingdom was in the first lockdown, schools were closed, and movements were severely restricted. The book explains what COVID-19 is. As this type of coronavirus was so new, scientists and doctors did not know everything about the virus and the book explains about the work they were doing to understand it.

The book also encourages young people and their families to talk about their feelings, be kind to the people they live with, to keep doing their schoolwork and help out their grownups if they can. The book ends with a message of hope: “One day, this strange time will be over. We did it together.”

Axel Scheffler is an illustrator, known for his Gruffalo books. Elizabeth Jenner is a children’s author; Kate Wilson is Nosy Crow’s CEO and Nia Roberts is the Creative Director. The team were supported by Professor Graham Medley from the London school of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and a team of teachers and child psychologists. A digital version was also made available for free. An updated version was released in June 2021.