A new children’s book about the Wuhan coronavirus whistleblower teaches bravery

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Police tried to silence him, but he kept talking. In the book, a 7-year-old child, May, learns about Dr. Li’s courage and acts to cultivate hope.

The picture book was written by New York Times best-selling author Francesca Cavallo. It was first made available as a short book, which can be downloaded free of charge. The online version was downloaded over 60,000 times in just a few weeks and subsequently translated by volunteers into 38 languages.

Cavallo told CNN that he believes he has received so many requests from parents and educators for the printed version of this book because they wanted to give children a better explanation of the deeper events during the pandemic. So he chose not to wait to write a longer version of the book.

Dr. Li died on February 7, 2020, due to the coronavirus. Cavallo said that “it has become a symbol of freedom, of the importance of science, so the fact that it was presented in a children’s book was an extremely important way to preserve his memory.”

Cavallo also worried about the rise of racism towards Asian Americans and believed that many children would forever associate the virus with China – and the Chinese.

“I didn’t want those kids to associate an Asian face with the virus,” Cavallo told CNN. “This is the kind of racism that is extremely difficult to eradicate when you grow up. I wanted to associate Dr. Li’s face with the face of the first hero of this pandemic.”

After launching a crowdfunding campaign, Cavallo and her team managed to raise over $ 52,000 in less than a month on Kickstarter and published the book in November. It has sold over 15,000 worldwide with copies in English, Italian, Simplified Chinese and Pilipino.

Cavallo said the book inspires children to be courageous in the face of adversity, adding that “it also celebrates empathy, showing children what this crisis means to everyone and giving it to you and your children. [It provides] a space to explore their feelings about the pandemic and an opportunity to be inspired and understand what happened together. “

The book is sold directly online and some publishers around the world distribute it in the Philippines, Italy and Singapore.

Cavallo also recently entered into a distribution agreement. Starting in July 2021, Undercats books will be distributed in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand, which could allow “Dr. Li and the Crown Carrier Virus” to reach millions of people worldwide.

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