COPE COVID-19 Storybook for Children

COPE COVID-19 Storybook is a picture book by Martha Keswick, author of the COPE disaster series that educates children about coping with disasters, illustrated by Mariko Jesse and edited by Timothy Sim, endorsed by UNICEF. Designed to educate young children aged 5-10 on what COVID-19 is, the book features simple explanations of COVID-19 in a lively question-and-answer format:

Now COPE, what do we know about COVID-19?

It is a kind of virus, also known as the coronavirus. (Keswick 1)

Illustrations of personal hygiene and medical equipment, such as face masks, hand sanitizer and infrared thermometers, supplement the simple written content, to familiarise children with ways of protecting themselves from the virus. The book condenses COVID-19 preventative messages into the short slogans, “STAY WELL” (Keswick 2), “STAY ACTIVE” (Keswick 3), “STAY SAFE” (Keswick 4), and “STAY SMILING” (Keswick 5), encouraging children to maintain regular lifestyle habits and social connections despite the need for social distancing. The book provides concrete suggestions for activities children can do at home, such as “Dance online with your friends. Exercise at home. Try some yoga” (Keswick 3), alongside pictures of the character Ping dancing while her friend joins in through a video call, conveying crucial messages about physical and mental wellbeing during lockdown that children can easily understand.

The editors collected five lockdown micro-diaries from children across cultures, on how they spent their time during lockdown and how the pandemic affected the lives of those close to them. The micro-diaries provide a sense of unity in the battle against COVID-19 between nations and set examples for children to stay hopeful and resilient during the uncertainty of the pandemic. In a diary entry by Sachi, a 8-year-old girl from Japan whose mother is a nurse and whose father is a pharmacist, she writes, “Our teacher told the class they must be kind to us, since we are the ‘children of heroes’” (Keswick 9), fostering positive attitudes in young readers towards frontline healthcare professionals.

As a piece of educational children’s literature, COPE COVID-19 Storybook relays information about the virus and advice for children to cope with lockdown through a combination of illustrations, brief text descriptions, and dialogue to engage the attention of young readers. The inclusion of international micro-diaries serves further educational purposes and allowsreaders to situate their lockdown experiences within a global context.