To HELP CHILDREN UNDERSTAND and COPE with the PANDEMIC...
1 STORYBOOK offered in 8 DIVERSE / INCLUSIVE VERSIONSso YOU CAN CHOOSE by gender, hair and skin color, and family type:
The Covid-19 pandemic has flipped the world on its head and adjusting our lifestyles has been challenging, to say the least, especially for kids. It has also made clear who we should consider true Heroes — those who sacrifice their own safety for the sake of others. The Pippin Pals are Hero Helpers! story highlights these hard pandemic-related issues, "softened" through rhyme, and encompasses the pandemic experience through a child's eyes, validating their feelings in a tangible way.
To offer a more personalized experience for the readers, the eight Pippin Pals are Hero Helpers! books are not a series, but diverse versions of the same story; you choose the version or versions which align with your or a child's preferences for the main characters and their families.
The books aid children's understanding of why things have changed, how to adjust to the "new normal," and reinforce the ways to comply. Through vivid, visual depictions of how germs spread, and the basic "dos and don'ts" that help protect themselves, people they love, and ultimately — heroic workers — they become Hero Helpers! The books feature those essential workers (be sure to check the end papers!), school from home, being social virtually, and the positive aspects of stay-at-home and "stay safe" living, along with a surprise "fun" activity.
Jam-packed with helpful info for kids and adults alike, the companion website — PippinHeroHelpers.com — also has free printable downloads on hand hygiene, wearing/handling face coverings and more, to post anywhere from bathrooms to classrooms. Plus you'll find activity downloads and a page dedicated to essential workers.
AUTHOR NOTE:
From the beginning of the Covid-19 global pandemic, publishers, authors and illustrators, libraries and librarians, teachers and parents were offering creative, exciting ways to help families with children live daily life as successfully and happily as possible while being physically distant, including home schooling. I, as a mother, grandmother and author/illustrator, wanted to contribute. My initial idea of posting on my "Writer Side UP!" blog about the indoor activity ideas that were included in a book I originally wrote in the '90s, quickly grew into a new story, then fully blossomed into these diversely executed books and companion website. The world has become an even more difficult, scary place in which to live, so my hope is that these tools become helpful, brighter spots for children amid the global gloom, but most of all, I wish good health and safety to all who do – and don't – utilize them.