Read-aloud Coronavirus Safety for Children book

This charming read-aloud children's book teaches children how to protect themselves from the Coronavirus.  

When Shenzhen-based school teacher Emily Marshall went back to England for a surprise family visit over the Chinese New Year holiday, she received her own unexpected news as well. Back in China, her home for the past three years, the deadly epidemic that began in Wuhan had spread across the country, beyond its borders and now the world and suddenly she wasn't sure as to when she could return.  
And with no date yet in sight as to when the new semester was starting, she couldn't help but worry about her students. And that's when her mother suggested creating a book. 

Page 8 of her book

Marshall, an English teacher for students Grades 1 to 4 at the Bao'an Middle School, is no stranger when it comes to producing her own readings for kids, having already put together several children's literature for her own students to introduce them to bigger topics such as self-love, taking pride in being oneself or being different. When she noticed that many online resources about Coronavirus safety tips were more geared towards older children, she felt an age-appropriate book for her young students was necessary. So together with her friends Vivian Cheng and Simin Wu, they created a bilingual book about Coronavirus safety tips for young children. 

Marshall out with her students'I created this book as I wanted my youngest students to understand the safety instructions without feeling afraid. My worry was that many of them wouldn’t understand the situation... but sense the change in atmosphere... Many of the resources I’d seen were for older children and might scare them further.  I created the video so that [the] children could read along with me or hear the story in a calm, gentle voice. And also to practice English in the many days at home,' Marshall shared. The main characters in her book are based on her own childhood toys – Spiky the Hedgehog and Beany the Bear – who comforted her in her times of need when she was a child. 

Spiky the Hedgehog

Beany the Bear

Below is an updated version of the video that has been shared in some WeChat groups and a copy of her storybook. Stay safe, everyone!

Video and photos courtesy of Emily Marshall

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