Back to School Giveaway

Maybe it's one of my quirks, but if I like a book, I often write the author. Of course, not everyone writes me back, but you'd be amazed how many do.Therefore, in the past few weeks, I have gotten to know some of the other writers and illustrators of the best coronavirus children's books on Amazon. 

I have been happily surprised to find that most of them are mothers, teachers, and absolutely wonderful people. Four of them and I have gotten together to do a giveaway. If you would like to take part, you have the possibility of winning all five of these great books.

Earth Takes A Break by Emily House 

The Day the Lines Changed by Kelley Donner

School Coronavirus Do’s and Don’ts by Adrienne Barber

Not Forever But For Now by Heather Malley 

Ben Builds A Friendship by Dorothea Laurence (author of Paula and the Pandemic)

To enter, just head on down to Instagram to @alittledonnerwetter and you'll find all of the instructions. They're pretty simple. Contest runs until August 14, 2020. Good luck!

Best Coronavirus Children's Books 2020

Back to School?

Whether or not your school is held normally or remotely, no one knows how this pandemic will actually affect our kids. And, although we may not be able to change policy decisions, we can make sure that we pay attention to our kid’s mental health, their anxiety, and their worries no matter how things play out.

As someone who has worked in education for over twenty years, I know that teachers and parents have too much on their plate already. Who has time to research an entirely new market of books? Therefore, as someone with experience in publishing and education, I have created a list of the top children’s books currently on the market which discuss the pandemic in simple terms, are not scary, and help to ease children’s fears about going back to school.

How I Created This List

Since I published a book about the pandemic called The Day the Lines Changed back in March, I have been scanning the market for similar children's books about Covid-19. I have read, joined forums, connected with other writers, and checked Amazon bestseller lists. In addition, when I decided to create this list, I asked my colleagues in the Society of Children’s Books Writers and Illustrators, other forums, social media, friends, and family for their favorites and received over one hundred recommendations for children's books about the coronavirus.

As traditional publishers usually need months (to years!) to bring out new books, there are a lot of independent publishers who have stepped up to fill the need. Some of these children's books about the coronavirus are great, others less so. From a child spraying bleach (never a good idea) to another being chased by germs, many of them get so specific in their explanation of the virus, whether through text or elaborate illustrations that they actually come across as frightening. I find this unfortunate as I think children are already overwhelmed enough as things are. As most of these books have been published quickly (and some are from first time writers and teachers), I am not going to judge them too harshly for having a less than perfect layout or a text that could have used a bit more editing. Instead, I am judging these books on what matters most, how much kids will like, understand, and learn from them and how well teachers can use them in the classroom. 

Here are ten books to start your school year off right!

The Dino Hunt

A little while before lockdown began, my boys and I went to a dinosaur museum to sketch. As an illustrator I’m used to bringing my sketchbook along to places to draw, but this was the first time that I took my sons along to draw with me. My oldest son Jonas, who is ten, is already an avid paleontologist. His enthusiasm for the subject had rubbed off on his two younger brothers, age 6, and 9 who were also excited to learn more about these huge animals that once roamed the earth.

Time to Sketch

We headed off to the Sedgwick Museum in Cambridge, UK which in addition to having a few complete skeletons, is also so old that it is easy to imagine walking its aisles a hundred years ago looking for drawers full of bones. We walked around the museum for a few minutes until we found a fossil or skeleton that we wanted to sketch, pulled up some chairs and started drawing. It was a wonderful experience. My usually rambunctious boys were quiet and concentrated. They also wanted to learn how to sketch shadows and tips for proportions. There were no complaints and they all agree that we should sketch again another time. After a couple of hours we left with our heads full of dino ideas.

I was very impressed with my children's drawings. Of course, as their mother, I am a biased observer. Nevertheless, I loved how much attention they paid to the use of shadow and shape. The most realistic drawings, in my opinion, were from my ten year old son in the middle. In addition to their drawings, I also made a few funny ones to add to the mix. Who doesn't want to see a dino with a handbag?

Looking for Fossils

When we got home, the dinosaur fever didn’t stop. Out on the playground, the boys gathered rocks and began making dinosaur fossils. Then they asked me to search the playground for bones like a paleoentologist and to try to figure out what dinosaur I had found. Was it an Allosaurus? A Pterandon? A Triceratops? I loved looking at their dinosaurs. It was not hard to imagine the broken rocks as bones left behind.

Now, in the midst of partial lockdown, I am reminded of our dino hunt. The playgrounds just reopened and my boys are glad to be free again to use more space than just our mini-backyard. They are all still big fans of dinosaurs. 

I think its time to go hunting for fossils again...  

Keywords: Dinosaurs, paleoentologist, sketching

The Day the Lines Changed - Storytime

Social Distancing Scavenger Hunt

In our little neighborhood in Cambridge in the UK, my children have a nice group of friends that they enjoy playing with after school and on the weekends. As for many children in the world at the moment, social distancing has been very difficult for them. Other than saying hello from a window or on a computer screen, they have not been able to play with their friends in two weeks and probably won't be able to for three months.

In order to make this time a little easier and to give them an indirect way to connect with the neighbor kids, my neighbor Michelle and I decided to start the Social Distancing Scavenger Hunt.

1. Getting started
In order to get prepared, the kids and I first picked up some large rocks on our morning walk, took them home, and then painted them. One of my boys painted dinosaur fossils on his rocks, my youngest just painted them with different colors, and my middle child had some funny ideas. I also painted a couple, including the very simple sleeping rock which is covered in the letter z. Once the rocks were finished, we put a sealer on them.

2. Hiding rocks
Then, on our next walk, we chose 8 large rocks to hide along the way and as we hid them we thought about clues and wrote them down. For example, one rock has the word "rabbit" written in brown on it. This rock we hid under a large white round sculpture in the dog park. The clue was, "Find the brown rabbit under the white planet." Another rock we hid close to the playground and made finding it like in a pirate's story, "go four paces forward, then five to the right..." Sometimes we made references to landmarks or street signs. It was fun making the clues. The final rock was put by our doorstep and I told my friend to ring the doorbell and we could say hi from the window. Then it was her turn to place the rocks and think up clues.

3. Precautions
If you are worried about cross-contamination and catching Covid19 when picking up the rocks, you can use an inverted plastic bag to pick them up (as if you were picking up after your dog). If you coat the rocks with clear nail polish or a good coat of sealant, then you can also wash them with soap and water. Make sure you always wash your hands when you come back inside.

I think you'll find that the more often you do a scavenger hunt with the same people, the more difficult you can make the clues and hiding places. I hope that you enjoy this idea. Please let me know what other ideas you have! Stay safe!

By the way, if this is your first time on my blog. Please check out my previous post about a children's book that I wrote and illustrated to help ease children's fears during this time. It's called The Day the Lines Changed and all proceeds go to Covid19 charities. For more info, see my website kelleydonner.com.

The Day the Lines Changed

The past two weeks, my children have asked a lot of questions about what the Coronavirus is, how it travels, where it came from, whether their grandparents will be okay, and why they can’t go to school. Sometimes their questions are really complex and I realize just how much their little brains are trying to wrap their heads around what is going on. My husband and I are trying to limit the amount of negative Coronavirus talk that we do in front of them. They don’t need to know how many people died in Italy today or worry about whether the British health system will fall apart. However, they do want the big picture and a lot of the info about the Coronavirus is way to abstract for a small child to understand.

Last weekend, while all of these thoughts were circulating in my head, I had a moment of inspiration. An idea for a picture book popped into my head and wouldn’t leave me alone. As always when I get some crazy, creative idea, my brain became obsessed with it and the following day I spent every second I could get writing, tearing paper and scanning and then threw everything into Photoshop and InDesign. What became of this is a story called The Day the Lines Changed.

Carefree and happy, the green line lives together with her family, goes to school during the week, and on weekends visits the town square. Then one day some of the orange and purple lines begin to turn crooked and suddenly, everything is different for the green line and her family. Just as the green line begins to worry if her own family might turn crooked, one line makes a fantastic discovery which changes the lives of the lines forever.

Excerpt from book: first page

After sending around the story to some family and friends, and getting positive feedback, I decided I needed to share it with others. I realized that teachers, parents, and caregivers need resources right now to help them explain to children what a pandemic is, while still giving children a much needed positive view of the future. Therefore, I hope that this story will help to make those difficult conversations with children about the Coronavirus at the moment a little bit easier.

Excerpt: beginning of book

My family has been very lucky. My husband has a job that has not been affected much by the lockdown. Although I find trying to do a full time Masters while homeschooling my kids at the same kitchen table difficult, I understand that many others have far worse things to deal with at the moment. I can’t imagine how hard it must be for so many people affected by personal loss or dealing with financial insecurity. I would feel very uncomfortable making a profit from this book.  Therefore, I have decided to give 100% of the profits through the end of April to Covid-19 charities.

Excerpt: middle of book

I appreciate all of the support from those who read my blog. Could you please help me in getting the word out and post to your social media about The Day the Lines Changed. It is currently on most Amazon marketplaces (see links below)

Together, we can help to make this time a bit easier for children to process, ease their worries, and let them enjoy just being young.

Buy on Amazon.co.uk

Buy on Amazon.com
Go to website and read more 

Keywords: Coronavirus, children's book, Covid19, pandemic, children's book about Coronavirus, picture book about Coronavirus

Little Jack Thomson's Magnificent Brain Coloring Book

I received my proofs from Amazon today for Little Jack Thomson's Magnificent Brain along with Little Jack Thomson's Magnificent Brain Coloring Book. It is really exciting after so much hard work, to be able to finally hold these books in my hands.

Here is an example from Little Jack Thomson's Magnificent Brain Coloring Book. Since all of the illustrations in the book began as simple linocuts before they were transformed with watercolor and a bit of Photoshop, making a coloring book made a lot of sense. I am really thrilled with the results and I can't wait to test out this proof copy on my kids.

The best thing about making a coloring book? You get to ask the best questions to go with the pictures.

If you could design a planet, how would it look? or, What would your space train look like?

I hope that some children take the time to send me in their colored pictures as I can't wait to see some of the imaginative ideas that are out there.

Little Jack Thomson's Magnificent Brain and Little Jack Thomson's Magnificent Brain Coloring Book will be available on Amazon soon. I'll keep you informed!

More info at kelleydonner.com