Sarah finds novel way to pass time during lockdown

A Harleston writer has used her time in lockdown to publish her first children’s book about coronavirus.

Sarah Davison, of Shotford Road, originally wrote Something Scary for the children of Jays Green Toddler Group, which usually meets each week in Harleston’s Hope Church.

She said: “Obviously, we have had to close for now, so I wanted to help them understand why they could not do things like that at the moment.”

“So I recorded Something Scary on our Facebook page and people asked if they could share it with other groups; that got me thinking that if it was useful for us, then maybe it could help other people as well.”

The story follows Harvey Mouse, who starts to ask questions about the changes to his life due to the outbreak. As he is a mouse and immune to the disease, he goes out to find the virus and to tell it to go away.

What he finds instead are the positives that have come out of lockdown, including communities coming together in various ways and people helping others.

The book, with its 17 hand-painted illustrations, also includes another story called Hide and Seek, which engages children in a fun game.

Mrs Davison said: “I have had so much positive feedback and lovely comments about the story.

“I am really pleased it is helping people talk to their children about coronavirus. I have always wanted to publish a book since I was a child.

“With all this extra time on my hands, I have finally done it. Writing it has felt like a little bit of escapism for me.”

Something Scary is available to buy on Amazon.