Doctor Li and the crown-wearing virus is a children’s book about the first hero of this pandemic, Chinese ophthalmologist Doctor Li Wenliang. It is written by NYT bestselling author Francesca Cavallo (co-author of Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls) and illustrated by Claudia Flandoli.
The book was first released for free on Cavallo’s website as a short story. In two weeks, 40,000 people downloaded it, and volunteers translated it into 32 languages. Now, it will become a hardcover, 44-pages long picture book, with a longer, more complete version of the story and original artwork created by scientific illustrator, Claudia Flandoli.
The illustrated book tells the story of Doctor Li Wenliang, the first whistle blower to raise the alarm that a novel coronavirus was spreading in Wuhan, China. He was accused by the police of spreading false information and later died of COVID-19 on February 7th.
“Children all over the world are severely affected by this crisis, and too little is being done to include them in the conversation, to offer them a space to explore their feelings about this pandemic,” Cavallo stated. The surge of Anti-Asian racism and the spread of conspiracy theories are problems Cavallo wants to tackle with her book.
Join the conversation in this exclusive online event organised by the Italian Cultural Institute of Melbourne.
Francesca Cavallo will chat with Ailsa Wild, local Melbourne author – famous for her Squishy Taylor series and the award-winning graphic novel The Invisibile War.
This event is suitable for all ages and highly recommended for children ages 6 and upwards.
To register for the online event, complete our registration form here.