Gauldin Elementary teacher writes children's book about quarantine blues

DOWNEY – It’s a question many young boys and girls were faced with over the last two years: How do you celebrate a birthday during quarantine?

Following the release of her first book last year, Jeannette Eseberre, a substitute teacher and interventionist at Gauldin Elementary School, recently published “My Quarantine Birthday,” a story that follows a young boy as he ponders that very uncertainty.

“I think with everything going on with the pandemic, because it was something that no one actually lived through before, it was something brand new for everybody, it was a very emotional time,” said Eseberre. “Staying away from family and friends, feeling alone, just all of those things that are involved, I l know how we feel going through that as adults, let alone what were the kids thinking.”

The story is told through the eyes of Eseberre’s 9-year-old nephew Joaquin.

“Before he was excited about his birthday, now he kind of knows what’s going on in the world around him and he’s not so sure it’s going to happen,” said Eseberre. “He can’t really get too excited, he knows it’s coming up, so he’s kind of reminiscing on his previous birthdays but he knows that that’s probably not likely this year.”

Of course, Joaquin didn’t go completely without, as he was thrown a drive-by birthday celebration.

“We were inspired by things we’d seen on the news,” said Eseberre. “We’re like, ‘Let’s do that for him this year,’ because I want him to know that we’re still here for him. So that’s what we did.”

Eseberre says that the situation made for a “really good story.”

“Everyone can relate to it right now, whether they did something like this or not, it’s that feeling of not being able to see your family and friends and feeling alone, and all of that that was going on at the time.”

“My Quarantine Birthday” was illustrated by Ignacio Guerrero. It is available online at Barnes and Noble.