By Katie Rayner
With the new school year rapidly approaching, there are many challenges for students to adapt to new models of learning due to COVID-19 restrictions, therefore it is now more important than ever for these students to feel connected. Whether it’s a teacher, staff member, or character in a book, children need to feel connected to something to help them cope with the various stressors that they have going on in their lives. “Children can often feel alone and isolated and when they can relate to characters in a book, it helps them feel less alone,” Sarah Cloud, Director of Social Work at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center said.
Cloud along with partner Theresa Harmon of To the Moon and Back have recently released two health literacy children’s books. Sam the Superhero and his Superlife, details the life of a young boy and his dog, who battle the challenges of being born substance-dependent. “Sam lives with his grandparents and has good and bad days like any child, made worse because he was born substance-exposed. But similar to a superhero, Sam has his own super courage and great strength,” according to the To the Moon and Back Website. This book has the ability to normalize what many children may experience when they are born opioid dependent, Harmon said.
Cloud has been working tirelessly on Mama Paca, a book that details the hard challenges of substance misuse. “My main focus is to let them know there are others going through what they are going through. It’s really important to put words and pictures that have meaning to their journey,” Cloud said. Both Cloud and Harmon agree that there is a need for more health literacy books to be featured in the community and in schools. These books help with social and emotional learning which can help mitigate the effects of adverse childhood experiences and trauma in a child’s life. With the new school year approaching, it is the hope that books like Mama Paca and Sam the Superhero and His Superlife will be read in many schools and classrooms across the county.
Sam the Superhero and His Superlife is currently available on Amazon.com. Mama Paca can be pre-ordered for October delivery. For more information visit the To the Moon and Back webite at https://www.2themoonandback.org/
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