The story of Chinese whistleblower Doctor Li Wenliang is becoming a children's book

LOS ANGELES, May 27, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Doctor Li and the crown-wearing virus is the new children's book by NYT bestselling author Francesca Cavallo, known for the globally acclaimed Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls series.

After breaking records with the Rebel Girls Kickstarter campaigns, Cavallo is back on the popular crowdfunding website to raise funds for her new project.

The illustrated book tells the story of Doctor Li Wenliang, the first whistleblower to raise the alarm that a novel coronavirus was spreading in Wuhan, China. He was accused by the police of spreading false information and later died of COVID-19 on February 7th.

"Doctor Li became a universal symbol of the importance of science and of freedom. In many other countries, doctors and scientists' warnings were ignored. That is what makes Doctor Li's story so relevant for all of us," Cavallo says.

Doctor Li and the crown-wearing virus was first released for free on Cavallo's website as a short story. In two weeks, 40,000 people downloaded it, and volunteers translated it into 32 languages. Now, it will become a hardcover, 44-pages long picture book, with a longer, more complete version of the story and original artwork created by scientific illustrator, Claudia Flandoli.

"Children all over the world are severely affected by this crisis, and too little is being done to include them in the conversation, to offer them a space to explore their feelings about this pandemic," Cavallo stated.

The surge of Anti-Asian racism and the spread of conspiracy theories are problems Cavallo wants to tackle with her book.

"It's unfortunate that the President is using this crisis to sow division among different ethnic groups." Cavallo continued, "Children deserve to be protected from narratives that are rooted in xenophobia, ignorance, and fear. Doctor Li and the crown-wearing virus is an origin story of coronavirus based on facts."

Cavallo's campaign launched on Tuesday 05/26 at 8.30 am EST with a funding goal of $50,000 and it has already raised 30% of its goal within the first 20 hours after launch. Backers have time until 06/26 to pre-order their Kickstarter exclusive edition of Doctor Li and the crown-wearing virus in English, Italian, or Simplified Chinese. The books will be shipped in October 2020.

The book will be published by Undercats, Inc., the media company Cavallo started in 2019 after parting ways with Rebel Girls.

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SOURCE Undercats, Inc.