Worksop dad creates children’s story to explain Covid-19

In the footage Mike Condon uses hand-drawn illustrations to tell the story - named Who Is Stealing All The Fun? - whose main character is a young boy called Charlie.

The cleverly-rhymed story tells how some ‘beastly little bugs’ were ‘ruining it for everyone’ however by becoming ‘germ-fighting superheroes’ and washing their hands children could help beat the virus.

Mike’s engaging video also features lively booing and cheering sound effects and eerie music to bring the drawings to life.

The story is a sequel to Mike’s first children’s book featuring Charlie - The Boy Who Lost His Burp - which he wrote to raise £3,000 for Bassetlaw Hospital where his seven-week premature baby daughter was cared for.

Mike, 38, told how he came up with the idea for the video while out walking his dog during lockdown - illustrating it over a couple of evenings.

He said: “I’ve got friends who have been sewing scrubs and making deliveries for the NHS but I’m a graphic designer and I felt I didn’t really have much to offer.

“We have our little one at home and are trying to balance work with looking after her – it must be such a strange time for kids and how do you explain it?

“So I thought I’d just follow on from The Boy Who Lost His Burp with Who Is Stealing All The Fun?”

Mike - whose daughter Willow was delivered by emergency caesarean section when doctors discovered she had an irregular heartbeat in the summer of 2018 - said he put the short video together quickly to help parents explain coronavirus to their children.

He said: “We had quite a following from people who bought my book for their youngsters - so I thought I could harness that community.

“Willow is only 20 months old but it’s disrupted her routine - she doesn’t understand why we’re around every day.

“It’s quite difficult trying to balance looking after her while working from home.”

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