Fox Chapel Publishing Authors Win International Prize for Coronavirus Journalism

Lancaster, PA — Kid Scoop, a weekly page of learning activities for children published in more than 300 newspapers and a monthly news magazine for children is one of 12 international laureates awarded the Global Youth and News Media Prize.

This year, the Global Youth and News Media Prize was devoted to journalism that explained the coronavirus to children. Kid Scoop founder Vicki Whiting is a former third-grade teacher in Sonoma, California went on high alert when the Coronavirus struck last year. “I knew children were puzzled and even frightened. People were wearing (or not wearing) masks. It was all very mysterious,” Whiting said.

Whiting set out to explain the virus and how to combat it—with explanatory journalism in child-friendly vocabulary and lively, colorful, interactive illustrations by graphic designers Jeff Schinkel and Eli Smith. 

Vicki Whiting and illustrator Jeff Schinkel are the author and illustrator team behind six Happy Fox Books, an imprint of Fox Chapel Publishing. Most recently, they published a children’s joke book called Super Silly Jokes with Kids, and they have three more books on the themes of drawing, activities, and jokes launching later in 2021 and early 2022.

“We are so pleased to have Vicki Whiting as part of the Happy Fox team,” David Miller, president of Fox Chapel Publishing says. “She and her team bring a plethora of skills that helps children increase their knowledge of the world and find involvement within their communities. We enthusiastically congratulate her on this award.”