'★ Face masks on or off? This book flips to be read either way. It's two books in one. ★
'It’s a topsy-turvy world that children live in today, but the adventures must safely return. Face masks on or face masks off, this fast-paced, two-sided book takes kids through the ups and downs of a balance bike ride with friends. A stuffed bunny is temporarily lost, but a community is found.
'No matter which way you read it, the book reinforces the joys and freedoms of childhood and advocates for a safe return to fun. Perfect for Covid-19 and to normalise the wearing of masks. Yet, this book will remain in your collection when the crisis has ended.'
The world is a weird place right now, especially for kids. Some have grown up knowing the pre-Covid world and have found their entire life thrown out of whack, whilst for some this is the only thing they've know. Whilst adults are suffering, I think it's fair to say that the kids are hurting too, and as such books that try to normalise some of what's going on right now are definitely going to help children navigate the world.
The Safe Return is trying to do this, but isn't just relying on the Covid world to do so. The book tells the story of a group of friends who head out for a bike ride, accompanied by one of their father's, who's jogging along with them. On the trip one of the kids loses his stuffed rabbit toy, and so the kids set out to find it for him and reunite the two of them.
The story doesn't rely on anything Covid related in it's story, and is a fairly normal tale of a group of friends just being together. What makes it stand out as being set during this time is that everyone is wearing masks. But that's it, there's no mention of the virus, and the kids still get to be together and enjoy themselves.
This is one of the best ways to go about setting a story during Covid, to show it as part of everyday life, but also that it isn't defining everything. It's important that kids see that you can take precautions, such as wearing a mask, but you can still live your life. I think it's taking something really big and really scary and taking some of that fear out of things.
However, like I said before, this book isn't relying on being a Covid related book to get noticed; and clearly wants to exist after the pandemic. So, you can flip the book over and you get the same experience without the masks. The artwork is of mask-less people going about their lives and not having to worry. It means that once this has passed, once things are better, kids can still read and enjoy this book without having to be reminded of what could potentially be a very frightening period.
It's clear that the creators put some thought into this, and wanted to create something that felt relevant and more than just a story, something that children could look at and find something hopeful and good in; but at the same time didn't want that to define the book. so, whether you read it during the pandemic or not, this seems like a book that kids will be able to carry with them.
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