January 18, 2021
By: Mohamed Kargbo
A Sierra Leonean based author, Dr. Bintu Mansaray has gone public to declare that she has published two books for children on Covid-19. She made the disclosure during the good morning Salon programme on Radio Democracy 98.1 FM.
“The first book I wrote is on COVID-19 and the second one is on Malaria. I started my first book in May 2020 and published it in August 2020. And my second book was published in November 2020.”
She stated that these books were written during the emergence of the Covid -19 at the time when school was not in session and children were at home. The purpose of these books, according to her was to enlighten children about the pandemic and its preventive measures.
Dr. Bintu also stated that she was inspired to write a book on malaria when there surge in the endemic ailment.
“Most times when children come to the hospital they ask: “Dr. what has happened to me?
She said: “So with this material children will read and learn how to protect themselves from malaria and how to clean their environment.”
According to the author, the main character Amie is sleeping under a mosquito bed net. Amie is a common name given to girl child in Sierra Leone. Reading this book within the construct of a local setting and characters in mind will help encourage the readership to emulate the main character and to protect themselves against malaria to save lives.
The books targets 4-years-old children and upward. It contains cartoon illustrations to make reading easier for children.
She disclosed that the book is on sale for those who can afford and free donation for those who cannot afford including. There is also the braille version, 100 copies of which are going to be donated to the Blind Schools across the country.