Our fourth kids’ book stars Vera, a character based on Michael’s surrogate grandma, an immigrant from Ukraine.
One of our aims in the book is to create a character who embodies goodness, just as Vera does in real life.
When we spoke with Vera yesterday, she had recently received her first Covid-19 vaccination. Like many grandmothers, for months and months she hasn’t been able to hug her grandchildren. She has been isolated in her apartment much of the time.
When we asked her what she planned to do when she is fully protected by the vaccine, she said, of course, that she would have Michael and her other two grandkids come spend time in her apartment—one of Michael’s favorite things to do. He hasn’t been able to visit her apartment since the pandemic began in March.
But what she said next was so typical of Vera, who grew up in Soviet occupied Ukraine and lost all her land and savings to the Soviets.
After she hugged her boys, she said, she’d continue volunteering, as she had done throughout the pandemic. She plans to cook food that will be sold to support her church. She will continue to help out the people, many of them elderly, who live in her apartment building. She’ll deliver them food and help them with errands.
“People need so much help,” she said in her unmistakable accent. “I must do this to help them.”
She promised that, for now, she wears a mask and gloves when she volunteers.
Along with helping out in her church and apartment building, Vera has been busy making masks. We have helped gather materials for the masks and have delivered them to people who need them. At the beginning of the pandemic, when healthcare workers didn’t have masks, we gave them to nurses. We also donated them to the county health department, to kids in need and to the homeless. Vera fashioned the masks out of bed sheets and pillowcases and hand made the straps because elastic was hard to find. She conducted research that allowed her to perfect her creations, making the masks better fitting and safer.
Vera is the main character in our fourth book. She’s an assistant mayor who uses “Dog-tention” to help kids and adults find kinder ways to communicate and interact.
She also coaches kids, like Bash, to turn their sensitivities—apparent deficits— into strengths. In the book, all the kids in town want to participate in sessions with Vera, and this creates some competition among the children.
Learn more about Vera’s background:
Watch Michael dedicate our last book to her: