By Alesha Capone
Seabrook mother-of-three Charlie Golding has written a children’s book to help parents answer questions about the coronavirus.
Ms Golding said she penned the book because her own children, who are aged between one and five, have been asking her a lot of questions about COVID-19.
“On Easter Sunday, I was scribbling notes on a notepad while making a roast dinner,” she said.
“The initial story was done before the roast was done.”
Ms Golding works as a professional writer but described herself as “not a children’s author at all”.
Her book, which is titled When the World Went Inside, features an eight-year-old boy named Theo as the main character.
Ms Golding said she named Theo in honour of her first daughter, who died during pregnancy.
“My promise to her was that I’d write a children’s book for her,” Ms Golding said.
Ms Golding said she had included extra material at the end of the book, to help support parents talk to their children about the coronavirus.
“The most important thing for me, at the end of the book, is that there is a sense of hope – yes, we’re in isolation now and having to stay at home, but it won’t be forever,” she said.
Ms Golding said When the World Went Inside was designed to help families have conversations about COVID-19, as “you can’t answer all the questions in a three or four-minute story”.
She said her three children were big fans of the book and had helped her revise the text.
“They were my little editors,” she said.
Details: www.whentheworldwentinside.com or www.facebook.com/whentheworldwentinside
