Much-Loved Merseyside Author Brings Parents and Children Together During Pandemic
With the traditional 9-5 job shifting to makeshift offices, and children’s education moving to the dining room table, families are spending more time together than ever before. And while this unique opportunity has been welcomed by some, one bestselling children’s author is keen to highlight the many challenges that others are facing as they strive to ‘do it all’ under the new normal. Fun-loving social entrepreneur Natalie Reeves Billing has stepped up to support families during this difficult time with the launch of two exciting new kids books that tackle the issues facing many families during the pandemic.
The first of the two new books, ‘My Mummy is a Monster’, is designed to help both parents and children come together and embrace the COVID-induced changes in their relationship through reading. Featuring two interconnected stories looking at everyday life through both a child’s eyes and the eye’s of a parent, the publication aims to support family wellbeing through times of disruption, change, and uncertainty.
The second new offering, ‘Ben and the Bug’, helps parents, guardians, and educators to explain COVID-19 to children while protecting mental health and reducing anxiety. Bernie Hollywood, OBE, an ambassador for the Wallace & Gromit Children’s Charity and himself a proud father to two sons, believes that the story is “essential reading for those looking for a sensitive way to explain COVID-19 to young ones”. While new, the books have already achieved bestseller status within their respective categories.
“At a time when family dynamics are changing with parents not only being primary caregivers, but also primary educators, there is an urgent need for us to understand our children, and for them to understand us, and although we may not find it easy to accept our changing roles during the pandemic, we can take measures to understand them, and we can make these measures fun, interactive, and exciting” says Liverpool-born songwriter turned children’s author, herself a mother to two children.
“This really is a very difficult and sensitive situation” continues Reeves Billing. “It is essential that our children understand the vital importance of hygiene and social distancing during the pandemic, but as parents, and as educators, we also want to ensure that our children are growing up enjoying life, not fearing it, and this is especially true as schools begin to implement phased return programmes which will see many young ones spending time away from their familiar safety net for the first time in months”.
Having hopped across the Mersey from bustling Liverpool to the laidback Wirral, Reeves Billing has taken advantage of the slower pace of life to focus on engaging and supporting children and their families through her fantastical stories and creative poetry, all scribbled down in her fairytale-like Lollipop Lodge.
Both ‘My Mummy is a Monster’ and ‘Ben and the Bug’ are available to buy now directly from Reeves Billings’ online store, Lollipop Lodge, with bulk discounts available, and from Amazon. Families can also download 100% free ‘Monstrous Me’ activity sheets which include masks, colouring, and recipe cards.