Inside We Stayed for Months and Days

by Laena-Mae Turner

From the young mind of debut author, eight-year-old Laena-Mae Turner, comes a storybook of the beautiful act of coming together in hard moments. Inside We Stayed for Months and Days is a humorous and insightful picture book following children around the world during an international lockdown, understanding the unifying reaction to some disastrous news from different people, races, cultures and countries across the globe. Currently Laena-Mae Turner is one of the youngest published authors in South Africa and is the youngest child globally to write and publish a book on the Covid-19 pandemic. “I wanted to write a book for all the children across the world that would make them realise that no matter how lonely it is to be stuck at home, that we are all so brave to live in this new world,” shared the author, Laena-Mae. “Not being able to play with our friends and stay home is only for a short while. By staying home or by wearing our masks, we are helping the world get better from this terrible virus." Writing the book was a way for Laena-Mae to connect with the outside world and come to terms with her own isolation and the entire Covid-19 experience, as she has a rare autoimmune disease and has had no contact with the outside world since early 2020. The young author wanted to write a book that would resonate with the children across the world and would serve as a reminder for years to come of how the entire world went through a moment in time we never will forget. These truly are unprecedented times and her book is a snapshot of these moments, through the eyes of a child.

40 pages, Paperback

Published December 2, 2020