My Hero is You

Maya Adam, MD, presents an animated adaptation of a children's book designed to help kids cope with COVID-19.

This video is an adaptation of the children’s book, My Hero is You, released in early 2020 to help educate children around the world about COVID-19. The original book was created by mental health and psychosocial support experts from the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC), the highest-level humanitarian coordination forum of the United Nations. A team, led by Stanford Medicine’s Maya Adam, adapted the story into a short animated film, with input and oversight from the IASC Mental health and Psychosocial Support Reference Group, UNICEF, and the World Health Organization (WHO). The film aims to convey messages of hope, resilience, solidarity, and empowerment to children and their caregivers around the world. Faculty at Stanford Medicine, the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley School of Medicine served as advisors on this film. The animations were done by Chaz Bottoms, Matt Torode, and Monica A. Young. To learn more about this project: stan.md/2EhQNRF You can download this video and share it with your family and friends: stan.md/2CtFnJZ Get a digital copy of the book, My Hero is You (available in more than 125 languages): interagencystandingcommittee.org/iasc-reference-group-mental… Note from Stanford Medicine as of August 19, 2020: Recommendations regarding mask-wearing for children vary by country. For these reasons, the children in our main character’s dream do not wear masks in this film. Please follow the guidance of your local public health agencies with regard to mask-wearing for children and adults.