And the People Stayed Home


By Kitty O’Meara, Stefano Di Christofaro & Paul Pereda (Tra Publishing)
ISBN: 978-1-73476-178-8 (HB)

I’m briefly interrupting our scheduled February program to share this with you – although if you’re aware of that internet thingy, you might have already seen some iterations on your home screens…

Everyone has a coping mechanism for these trying times, and for explaining how the world has changed to those less able to grasp the situation. Former teacher and chaplain Kitty O’Meara wrote a poem about the effects of quarantine and, thanks to global digital interconnectivity, it reached out and touched a chord with people in lockdown all over the planet.

The poem was adapted and reinterpreted by folks via their own artistic inclinations and has physically materialised as this sturdily comforting, oversized (345 x 244mm) hardback or digital book for children – one of a positive wave of such primers intended to help kids grasp what’s going on. They’re pretty calming for those of us over 8 too…

Illustrated by Stefano Di Christofaro & Paul Pereda in a welcoming open and colourful style, this paean to acceptance, resilience and hope is a gentle advocation of better tomorrows with an inclusive, deeply ecological subtext: one we can – and should – all enjoy.

Supplementing the contemplative message is a brief interview ‘Talking with Author Kitty O’Meara’, which says all it needs to about the inspired caring person who kicked this off , but what really shines through everything here is the certain and welcome knowledge that it will all work out in the end…
© Tra Publishing. Poem text © 2020 Kitty O’Meara. All rights reserved.