How an engineering teacher is helping the ‘Littlest Hero’ fight the villain virus

By day he is an engineering teacher at Lynn Camp Schools, in the evening he is a product designer, but a hidden superpower of his is to help children understand viruses and how to fight off viruses.

Hank Gevedon will tell you that he is a jack of many trades, but writing children’s books might be one that he is on his way to mastering.

Gevedon said that when the opportunity came up to do something that might help with the COVID-19 outbreak, discussion with the book’s illustrator Kellene Turner led to the making of How the Littlest Hero Fought the Villain Virus.

The book begins with ways that littlest heroes can outfit themselves, armed and ready to take on the virus. With a PPE mask on his face and his mom’s favorite (used to be) towel being a cape, the Littlest Hero is shown packing cleaning solution on his side and gloves on his hands.

The Littlest Hero knew, deep in their heart, that they had been called to war. The virus was the enemy.

Throughout the book, there are practical steps listed that children can take to protect themselves and encourage their family to do the same. From physical wellness to mental awareness, the book covers topics that today’s youth are quickly learning experiencing and searching for answers to.

The book also includes forms such as keeping daily vital statistics, a journal of contacts, and links to downloadable applications for electronic devices.

“We truly wish that the book could have been written and gotten out sooner,” said Gevedon. “These things take time and we wanted to make sure the illustrations where correct and wording was correct.”

“Upon on reviewing, it was decided to add a Spanish translation on to the pages of the book for our Spanish population and our large number of Spanish speakers in the world,” said Gevedon.

From the front cover of the book to the final pages, each page is translated into Spanish. Not only does it assist the Spanish speaking population, but it will also introduce English speaking students to the Spanish language.

Students played a large part in the development and screening of the book. Gevedon used Zoom during non-traditional instructional days to bring industry experts and his engineering students together to discuss the project.

When asked about her role as illustrator, Turner commented, “While this recent and potentially ongoing occurrence is not a mystical adventure, or an average bedtime story, The Littlest Hero helps to historically document, educate and give explanation to our youth of all ages. As an artist, I have been honored to work with Hank to help create a face for this unseen villain, and our Littlest Hero.”

“The virus is really a somewhat scary character in real life, as well as in the book, and that imagery makes it much more real. I genuinely hope this book helps ease explanation about COVID-19 to youth of all ages in some way.”