A Ponoka woman recently wrote a book to explain how children can remain safe during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“So many people have kids and everything right now is confusing to them,” said Christine Orme, who is a housekeeper at the Centennial Centre for Mental Health and Brain Injury in Ponoka.
“This was just a nice little story put together to help kids understand social distancing, hygiene and working together. The main message is that we’re all in this together.”
The book, intended for ages three to eight years, is about a family of dogs coping with the pandemic. It aims to deliver its message in a “non-frightening” way.
“Having the puppies in there is something the kids pay more attention to,” she said.
The family of cairn terriers discovers new ways to keep busy at home, to cover coughs and sneezes, and to always wash their paws.
Orme got the idea for the book when a friend of hers from San Antonio, Texas, DeAnne DiCesare Edlund, who has the same breed of dog, posted cartoons of her pets on Facebook.
“She was doing these wonderful cartoons, and I said to her, ‘Wouldn’t it be fun to put a story line to this for a children’s book?’
“She said to go ahead, so one weekend, I started writing at 10 on Saturday and I finished it at about four in the afternoon on Sunday,” said Orme.
“It was written in just my two days off, and I think I wanted to keep working on it, because it took my mind off of everything that goes on at work.”
After finishing the book, she sent copies to two friends who are writers and both encouraged her to publish it.
“I said to them, ‘I don’t know anything about publishing.’ They said, ‘Don’t worry, we’ll do it for you.’ Within a week, the book was up on Amazon and had been published,” she said.
The volume has received positive feedback so far.
“The sales have been really good and there’s been a great response. It’s a really easy way parents could explain a lot of what’s going on to their kids.”
The eBook can be found at www.amazon.com/We-Need-More-Toilet-Paper-ebook/dp/B086R4ZN4G.
sean.mcintosh@reddeeradvocate.com
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