Children’s book based in Whitby highlights pandemic coping

A local resident is hoping to teach the younger generation the lessons learned from the pandemic — in a children’s book. The author, Robina Brah, helps illustrate how people and businesses coped during the past three years.

Brah, who is an Ontario Tech University graduate, says her goal was to create something children could understand.

“They had a bigger disconnect than we did. They were doing things they were told, but they didn’t understand why,” said Brah.

The words might give you de-ja-vu or perhaps a bit of PTSD, as each page helps parents walk children through what they experienced.

It stars a porcupine named peter, whose mom is a nurse. It revisits that familiar verse — stay 6 feet apart.

“He ventures into the town of Whitby. And he meets different kids who share their experiences,” says Brah.

The book follows Peter throughout, highlighting the time we might all like to forget, with lines that rhyme such as, ‘She was shocked and told peter about what she had just seen. There was talk about a virus called covid-19.’

Throughout the book, children and parents meet a range of different characters. The plot follows business owners in Whitby, telling the story in a relatable way that children can understand.

“There’s a homeless character. There’s Buzzbee who owns a honey-bee shop called ‘The Bee-knees’, and he is worried about going out of business.”

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Whitby’s Mayor, Elizabeth Roy says it’s nice to see her own town used as the location.

“It’s nice to see your own town featured,” says Roy.

And what makes it even more special for her is the bee character.

‘Whitby is very focused on honey and bees,” said Roy. “We have a bee-hive on Whitby Town Hall and we even give out honey.”

The town made headlines once when a swarm of honeybees was found on a stop sign. The discovery led to the town creating a honeybee themed park.

The author hosted an official book launch and reading at the Whitby Public Library last weekend. Brah says she wanted to show children a story that revisited the experiences they had, including restrictions such as not seeing friends. That’s exactly what Peter experiences in the book.

“He is sick of all the restrictions. He misses being able to go out with his friends, and go on adventures,” she says.

That was the status quo on March 17th of 2020 — for millions of kids. The world was shut down, schools went virtual and children were left in the dark.

Associate Professor at Ontario Tech University, Lindsay Malloy says having books like this — help fill in a gap for kids.

“I think having a book that can explain these kinds of things. Help them remember, especially what they are supposed to do.
I think that’s a plus,” says Malloy.

Malloy who focuses on developmental and forensic psychology says the book helps both kids and parents.

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“Kids do better when parents actually explain what’s going on, and talk to them at their own developmental level,” she says.

Brah says the most important lesson she wants kids to learn from the book is about supporting one another.

“It’s about community. Even though we went through those two years. It’s always going to be about community.”