The London mayor, Sadiq Khan, has congratulated a primary school teacher who wrote a children’s book aimed at gently tackling Covid-19 vaccine hesitancy in the black and minority ethnic community and promoting children’s mental health.
Banji Alexander, who teaches at a school in south-east London with a large number of students and staff from minority ethnic backgrounds, started writing Lockdown Looms: Reggie’s Birthday Party, a book detailing a child’s experience of the pandemic, during the second lockdown.
“I put pen to paper just after Christmas 2020, and wrote the book in between teaching my year 3 class remotely online after the government’s decision to close schools,” Alexander said.
“I needed a book that I could use to allay the fears of my learners surrounding the pandemic. The world as we knew it was changing rapidly around us and children, parents and teachers alike found it challenging.”
The story covers topics such as masks, social distancing, home schooling, vaccinations, bereavements, chaotic supermarket scenes and food shortages.
“I remember children in my class being disappointed about not being able to celebrate their birthdays in the ‘normal’ way, and missing members of their families, who they weren’t able to see due to the restrictions,” Alexander, who lost his uncle during the pandemic, said.
Reggie, the seven-year-old protagonist, is fed up with home schooling and online learning at the end of a lockdown and looking forward to celebrating his eighth birthday with family and friends as new restrictions loom.
The aim was to write a book that would offer hope and benefit children’s mental health, said the author, who said he discussed the characters’ feelings with his pupils, teaching them vocabulary to express their own emotions with more accuracy.
“The important messages in the book are about kindness, resilience, patience, gratitude and adapting to change. I want the reader to know there is light at the end of the tunnel, regardless of how challenging things may seem. I hope the book will help children learn how to manage their expectations, and become better at articulating how they are feeling.”
The book also touches on fears surrounding the Covid vaccine. “I am aware that vaccination uptake is considerably lower in some demographics within the BAME community,” Alexander said.
“The topic of vaccinations is quite a divisive one, and for young children, seeing their adults feel quite strongly about a topic can be alarming and confusing, particularly if their friend or friend’s family believe the opposite.
“As an educator, it’s my job to dispel myths – be that just by gently mentioning the vaccinations, which play an integral part in the lockdown eventually coming to an end in my story.”
Sadiq Khan wrote to Alexander to thank him for his efforts in supporting his pupils during the pandemic. “Teachers like yourself have gone above and beyond to show care and commitment to your students. Your support has been so vital to ensuring students are not only educated, but given the tools to develop resilience, as we continue to adjust to extraordinary times,” the mayor wrote.
