Stories from the Home Front
5 minute readEarlier this month, we asked our followers this question:
Do you know a child who has been affected by the Coronavirus crisis and who you would like to cheer up by giving them a free Librio book?
Our idea was to give away 100 personalised Librio books to do what little we could to alleviate some of the misery that the current situation has inflicted on countless children around the world.
Amazingly, we received over 500 nominations within a couple of days. Five times more than we intended to give away. Each nomination shone a spotlight into a lockdown home and reading through them was profoundly moving.
By the end of the process, we couldn’t bring ourselves to give away just 100 books, knowing that we’d have to say No to so many children. So we decided to treble our initial amount and give 300 books away instead. Judging by the emotional, grateful emails from nominees and parents, we’re super glad we did.
We have to give a massive thanks to our Swiss printer, Bookfactory, who donated 1,500 CHF in print costs to help reduce our costs for "Operation Happy Children". What a fabulous gesture from a fabulous partner.
Because we found reading through the nominations so moving, we wanted to share some of them with you (with permission of course), so that you too can appreciate what some enormously strong little people have been dealing with this spring.
Your stories:
He is 2yo and a child of a two keyworkers so now goes to nursery 4 days a week instead of 2 days. Also, it is no longer appropriate for him to see nanny and grandad who live just next door.
Mum and dad both key workers for the prison service. He has had to start nursery during the lock down to which he is very sad as he's never been before, normally looked after by grandparents who he can't see at the moment.
A---- has cerebral palsy and has really struggled not understanding why he can’t see his friends a lot are using online ways of communicating and he is feeling quite lonely as can’t join in with this method of communication. Dad has also not working due to work cutting hours so this would cheer family up:)
R---- is 4 years old I'm his granny we go swimming every Tuesday and we have such fun together, other days we do baking, and lots of short train rides that he loves. My birthday was on 29th March his mummy and he brought me a cake, he broke his heart when he realised we had to keep our distance and wasn't able to light the candles and come into granny's house.
He is hurt,he is lost,he is wild,he is locked inside under quarantine
It will be his 2nd birthday soon and we will not be able to celebrate as normal as a result of lock down. He loves his books so this would be a nice surprise.
L---- is my niece who is really missing nursery. Her baby brother was born 4 weeks ago and while she loves him very much he is taking a lot of her mummy’s time and attention. She would love to have her very own book to read to him.
L---- is thousands of kilometers away from his daddy during this pandemic because his father had to stay due to his job is to provide energy to houses so he could not come with his family.
S---- has fluid on his lungs and has asthma. He has said he hates The coronavirus and asked god to make things go back to normal.
Her mummy is a Dr and is working lots of hours, her daddy is a IT technician at a college and needs to work. V---- normally stays with her nana and pops but can’t at the moment.
Mum is an NHS nurse, and Dad is a self employed plumber. Mum is working hard looking after patients, Dad is trying to keep his business going with emergency work. Her brothers have to go to school and nursery a couple of days a week while Mum and Dad work.
He is such a trouper and a real life superhero. He’s been battling a spinal injury for the past 3 years and now has been diagnosed with Covid-19.
He deserves a lot extra but maybe we can help with a little extra
They are being very brave and adapting to their Mummy going through chemotherapy and losing her hair at the very time they are all having to stay at home together, away from school and friends.
His mom works in palliative care for the NHS and his Dad is a teacher, so a book to cheer him up at this time would be amazing.
His Dad is a GP and no PPE stressed and overworked with other gPs in the Practise having Covid 19.
Mummy is a nurse and K----(4) is not going to school and see family, she asked if she had been naughty and was this why.
O---- is currently having to live away from his mother (my cousin) who is a nurse on the frontline of this pandemic. This is a huge sacrifice by them both so something to lift his spirits right now would be incredible!
Their mum is a keyworker at a care home, so is their grandad. J---- struggles with reading but likes to listen to stories. They're grandma is in hospital with heart surgery complications and there is a lot of stress for their family at the moment. I wish I could visit my niece and give their mum and family a break but we can't because of social distancing. I want J---- to enjoy books and escape reality for a little bit and have quality time with her mum when she comes home from work.
With recent heartwarming scenes of Spanish kids leaving their homes for the first time in six weeks and schools beginning to reopen around Europe, let’s hope that we can soon consign this period to the rubbish bin of history and children can return to being free-range and adventurous in the wild.