A global disaster book series is now available free-of-charge in Hong Kong for our kids! 

The COPE Squad from the picture book series, COPE, is here to teach all Hong Kong kids how to Get Ready and Be Prepared in face of disasters! Under the guidance of Grand Mistress Fu, the four main characters of the series, namely Candy, Ollie, Ping and Eddy form the COPE Squad and undergo intensive training on natural disasters and how to be prepared. COPE's mission is to educate children from all over the world, so they can become COPE Champions to act as disaster role models in their community.

COPE is a series of fun, innovative and beautifully illustrated children’s books intended for global distribution to increase the disaster resilience of children. According to the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (2015-2030), which was adopted at the third United Nations (UN) World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in March 2015, children have a vital role to play in reducing risk, strengthening community resilience and shaping legislation to better protect against disasters. COPE’s touching and humorous illustrations will capture children’s imagination to teach them simple steps for disaster preparedness, which may one day save their lives.

The book targets at young readers aged 9-11 and parents reading to their children, aged 4-8. While the COPE books are written primarily in English with collaborative efforts from various contributors, the Hong Kong Jockey Club Disaster Preparedness and Response Institute  (HKJCDPRI), together with the Hong Kong Observatory, Dr Loretta Tam and Dr Kwan Che Ying, Associate Professor, Centre for Advancement of Chinese Language Education and Research, The University of Hong Kong, have localised the contents of the book for Hong Kong readers. Today, five books, the Earthquake! (“地震!”) ,Get Up To High Ground (“走上高地”) (for Tsunami), COVID-19 (“新冠病毒病”), Flood (“水災”) and Cyclone (熱帶氣旋), have been localised and translated in Chinese. 

Click and join the COPE Squad’s cyclone mission to Queensland, Australia.

Let’s embark on journeys of discovery into the world of disasters with COPE. Make a difference today! Get Prepared and Be Ready!

Please click the graphic below to download the PDF file of the book:

Click and join the COPE Squad’s Floods mission to Kelantan State, Malaysia

Click and join the COPE Squad’s COVID-19

Click and join the COPE Squad’s earthquake mission to Colima, Mexico

Click and join the COPE Squad’s tsunami mission to Matsushima, Japan.

Click and join the COPE Squad’s cyclone mission to Queensland, Australia.

Click and join the COPE Storm Surges

The global COPE Disaster Book Series Website:

https://cope-disaster-champions.com/disaster-book-series/

The Global Author, Illustrator and Editor Team of the COPE:
- Martha Keswick is the author of the popular bilingual Max and Mei picture book series, the factual Zhongguo Mingren Series about famous people of China and the action-packed Pangu comic book series. Martha’s work for the Keswick Foundation often supports disaster related projects in China.

- Mariko Jesse, the illustrator, studied at Central St Martins, where she was also an Associate Lecturer. She is a highly acclaimed freelance commercial illustrator, children’s book illustrator and printmaker specializing in Japanese woodblock printing.

- Dr Timothy Sim, the editor, started out as a social worker, specializing in family therapy and started focusing on disaster risk reduction, writing many books in Chinese and English since working with children, their families, schools, and communities affected by the horrific Wenchuan earthquake in 2008. Tim is currently a professor at the Singapore University of Social Sciences. 

The Contents Localisation and Adaptation Team for Hong Kong Editions:
- Hong Kong Jockey Club Disaster Preparedness and Response Institute (HKJCDPRI)
- Hong Kong Observatory
- Dr Loretta Tam
- Dr Kwan Che-ying, Associate Professor, Centre for Advancement of Chinese Language Education and Research, The University of Hong Kong

Acknowledgement of Support: 

WHO Collaborating Center for Community Health Services, School of Nursing, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University