Kathleen Finnegan is a Leesburg retiree, a former employee of Dodona Manor and Loudoun County Public Schools, whose children's book "Why(r)us the Virus," which she wrote and illustrated, is available where books are sold. Learn more at https://www.whyrusthevirus.com.
What inspired “Why(r)us the Virus?” The pandemic changed daily life for my grandchildren and I wanted to reassure them that they could still have fun together even though we were apart. I looked for a book I could read to them but couldn’t find what I wanted, so I wrote one for them and printed it out on my computer and I would read it to them over the internet each week during our story time. My daughter told me my grandson sang the Whyrus song as he was sitting in his car waiting for a Covid test to be administered and both grandchildren were looking for “wishing wands” and wishing ‘the Whyrus would go away” when they went on walks. It seemed to be giving them tools they needed to cope with the pandemic’s effect on their lives, so I decided to publish it in the hopes that it would help other families.
A year into the pandemic, do you think young children have a better grasp of what’s happening? It is difficult to say if they truly understand how something so small they cannot see it is changing their lives in such a huge way but they can definitely grasp the basic concepts of hand washing and wearing a face mask as tools to halt the spread of germs. They certainly pick up on the concerns of the adults around them but may not have the tools and verbal skills to express the worries they themselves may have. Reading a book like "Why(r)us the Virus" to them opens an opportunity for questions, discussions and expressions of their worries.
For Read Across America, you read your book for a school in Oklahoma. How did you make that connection? The teacher reached out to one of my sisters who lives in Arkansas to see if I might be interested in reading for her class. She had been talking to her students about how books get written and wanted an author to talk to them about the process of writing the book as well as reading the book aloud to them, and thought the subject matter was timely.
How is the book selling and what’s your plan for any proceeds? Book sales have far exceeded my expectations but I would love for it to be doing even better as the proceeds benefit Mobile Hope of Loudoun, a nonprofit that helps homeless children in Loudoun County. I am still working on ways to better market the book without expending funds that might be better used to fund Mobile Hope’s mission.
Is this your first children’s book? This is my first published children’s book, with several more in the wings. The writing and publishing community has been incredibly supportive in ways I would never even have imagined, and I hope to be able to pay that forward. The teachers, scientists and translators who worked with me donated their time and ideas when working on this book and the lesson plans. I think it’s been incredibly frustrating for people who want to help to hear that the best thing that they can do is stay home. This project gave them something positive and constructive they could do to help without leaving home. We offer the lesson plans and activities to the public for free as a service to the community on the "Why(r)us the Virus" website.
As a 20-year resident, what do you love most about Leesburg? I love the people, the history, and the planning that has gone into the community of Leesburg. I grew up and raised a family all over the world courtesy of the Air Force and this is by far the most enjoyable place I have ever lived. It’s great for walkers, the gardens are beautiful, there are many community events and a surprising amount of wildlife and trees. Our children enjoyed excellent schools, organized sports, musical programs and made great friends and it is easy for our friends and family to visit us with the airport nearby.
What’s it like having your work converted into a school lesson plan? It was very interesting to see how today’s teachers work from the bare bones of a learning requirements document to a lesson plan that can entertain and instruct young children. I loved the way they brought in music and art and simple comprehension checks to see if the children had understood the key points. I think today’s teachers are far better educated and have so many more tools available to them than the teachers of my day, but all those tools take a lot of time to incorporate. It’s a much harder job when trying to teach young people over the Internet as has been happening this year.
What’s one thing you were most looking forward to as a retiree that you’ll do as soon as it’s safe and the world returns to some semblance of normal? I hope to travel the borders of this country in an RV. We have friends and family in almost every state, and it would be great to catch up with them and see parts of the country we have not had the time to explore. There is still so much to see, each place has its own story, and I look forward to hearing them all.