(Fremont County, WY) – Mother-son team Rose Pecos-SunRhodes and Jared SunRhodes created “Magpie Woo’uh’ei,” an illustrated children’s book chronicling the Covid-19 pandemic through the eyes of a young Northern Arapaho girl.
This story was written by Rose and illustrated by Jared. It includes key points like the loss of a grandparent, isolation, masking, and vaccinations. The book also encourages readers to express their emotions related to the pandemic.
Jared’s illustrations depict three main points he wanted to stress during the story, including “how scary the pandemic was, our people chasing each other in and making sure we were staying home.”
“We tried our hardest to keep going, and persevere through it all and keep up with our Indian way, but it really did turn our world upside down and hit us hard,” he said. “It’s nothing to take lightly.”
Jared’s illustrations portray the timeline of events throughout the pandemic and were drawn on ledger paper.
Rose reflected on what it must have felt like to be a child during the pandemic.
“With adults, we’re rationalizing, trying to make sense of it, but for a child, hopefully, through the book, it’ll make it easier,” she said.
Their hope for the book is to empower children and their parents to get the vaccine as they relive those key moments during the pandemic, such as the loss of a grandparent.
“Watch out for one another, look after one another, take care of each other, love each other, have respect for one another. That’s what I wanted to say in this book,” Jared explained.
This book was created as part of the Wyoming Arts Council’s Covid-19 vaccine confidence project in partnership with the CDC Foundation.
Additional information about Rose and Jared, along with the book, can be found online here.