Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Community

Read ‘My Mask,’ a picture book to help kids understand coronavirus

Like many grandmothers, I’ve been trying to find a way to connect with my grandkids in this pandemic. I penned a poem for my granddaughter Livia who lives in Hollywood, Florida — the other side of the globe from me in Israel; we now visit on Facetime. My daughter, Miriam, a self-taught painter, took it to the next level with her wonderful painted collage illustrations.

It wasn’t until I started wearing a mask myself to protect myself and others from coronavirus that I realized what a challenge it was. They do smell bad, they aren’t pretty and they squash the face and the air passages. I’ve ditched my pasty white N95 for an aqua blue surgical model which offers a bit of a chance at breathing.

Miriam and I both hope that the book will help kids and the grownups who love them adjust to mask wearing until a vaccine or cure, or a miracle occurs so that we too can safely “toss our masks to the sky.”

My mask cover page.

Image by Miriam and Carol Ungar

Image by Carol and Miriam Ungar

Image by Carol and Miriam Ungar

Image by Carol and Miriam Ungar

Image by Carol and Miriam Ungar

Image by Carol and Miriam Ungar

Image by Carol and Miriam Ungar

Image by Carol and Miriam Ungar

Image by Carol and Miriam Ungar

Carol Ungar is a freelance writer, Mom, and grandmother who lives and works in the Jerusalem suburbs. Her first kids book “the Surprise in the Desk” is slated for publication later this year.

Miriam Ungar lives with her husband and daughter in Hollywood, Florida. She is a real estate executive who loves to cook and make art.

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

We’ve set a goal to raise $325,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.