John Shay

John Shay

Writing a children’s picture book about an ongoing global health crisis was not easy…

I became a grandfather on March 13, 2020, just three days after the World Health Organization declared the novel Coronavirus a global pandemic. That stark juxtaposition of familial joy and a global health threat led me to think about my grandson's life and the world that he was inheriting. This inspired me to write Panda Demick to give grandparents, parents, and other caretakers a way to talk about the pandemic to children in an uplifting and life-affirming manner.

From the very beginning, I knew that the story of Panda Demick needed to be bigger than the coronavirus. It needed to offer insight into how a tiny part of nature emerged and how its arrival was a reflection of our ongoing social and environmental challenges.

That larger context for the story is tied directly to my career as an earth scientist; I hold degrees in both chemistry and geophysics. My first jobs out of university were working for The Greenhouse Gas Project and the Deep Sea Drilling Project at Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, California. It was while working at Scripps that I met my wife, Joan, who holds a doctorate degree in oceanography. As a result of those early jobs and my marriage, I have held a front-row seat to the hard-fact science behind climate change and its impact on ecosystems worldwide. Those personal insights, combined with the emerging COVID-19 pandemic, lead to the story of Panda Demick.

Beautifully illustrated by my good friend Jenny Zandona, the book shows the environmental imbalance that preceded the arrival of the Coronavirus through the eyes of Demick, a young panda who lives in a park. Demick is saddened when his animal friends tell him about the environmental struggles facing the world. During that struggle, the Coronavirus emerges and tells Demick what needs to be done to keep all of his friends safe and how to begin healing the world. Following Demick’s lead, daily life is forced to slow down and people come together to help each other. The story illustrates how the pandemic forced people to rediscover what's truly important in their lives. The story provides context for what children are experiencing and how good things can come from difficult times and that new beginnings are always possible.

Writing a children’s picture book about an ongoing global health crisis was not easy. While the pandemic remains ongoing, the need to provide caretakers with ways to talk to children about it is very real. I believe, now more than ever, that art and literature can have a profoundly positive impact on a child’s life.

The book was written in loving memory of those lost worldwide to COVID-19. Visually, this can be seen in one of the book’s illustrations which contains an empty pair of white nurse shoes as a tribute to the doctors and nurses lost to the pandemic. Their unwavering courage and sacrifice will always be part of the COVID-19 story. To date, over 200 author-signed copies of Panda Demick have been gifted to nurses and doctors nationwide. Feedback from those front-line healthcare workers has been very positive and heartwarming.

My wife, Joan, remains active in the sciences as president of an earth science company in Seattle, WA. My daughter Dana is a grants manager, overseeing critical earth science research, and my son David is a mechanical engineer building robots for space exploration. My grandson, Kai, remains an infinite well of inspiration to me and I look forward to being his “Pop- Pop” with a front-row seat to all the adventures he undertakes.

In thanks to Mandy Haynes and Reading Nation Magazine, I have gifted 5 signed copies of Panda Demick to infusion nurses at Seattle Cancer Care Alliance.

John Shay is a retired Earth scientist and high tech entrepreneur living in Seattle, Washington with his oceanographer wife, Joan. When he's not drawing or writing, he can be found rebuilding their century-old farm house or tending to his beloved fruit trees and raspberries. The birth of his grandson at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic inspired him to write the story of Panda Demick.

Jenny Zandona, Illustrator -

Jenny Zandona is an illustrator specializing in children's literature, having illustrated multiple books including "Flap Your Wings, Little Robin", written by Andrea Legg. Having grown up in the Pacific Northwest, Jenny finds inspiration in the ever awe-inspiring beauty of nature, where the day-to-day is a phenomenal sensory expedition. She enjoys swimming, sweets, and morning coffees with her husband, dog, and cat; James, Crow, and Tama, in their too-small-for-fourcreatures bed. Jenny’s goal to portray lush characters, emotions, and textures keeps her busy as she continues to pour her being into every new illustration.