Hyderabad: Helping children and young people cope with the changes caused by the coronavirus means providing accurate information, discussing facts without causing undue alarm, and re-establishing routines.
In the wake of this, a new storybook that aims to help children understand and come to terms with COVID-19 has been produced by a collaboration of more than 50 organizations working in the humanitarian sector, including the World Health Organization, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and Save the Children.
Children are among those fighting coronavirus and those feeling the pain it causes, and a storybook wants to help them navigate both.
The story-"My Hero is You, How Kids can fight COVID-19!"-features a creature named Ario, who helps explain how children can protect against the virus and cope with the complicated emotions around the world dealing with a pandemic, according to a release from the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC), which is part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
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The book is aimed at children ages 6 to 11 years old and has already been translated into six languages to reach as many children as possible. Thirty more languages are in the pipeline.
It is being released as both an online product and audiobook.
It is to be noted that during the early stages of the project, more than 1700 children, parents, caregivers and teachers from around the world shared how they were coping with the COVID-19 pandemic.
The input was invaluable to scriptwriter and illustrator and the project team in making sure that the story and its messages resonated with children from different backgrounds and continents.
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