When Léo-James Lévesque was asked if his book could be used in a new project at the CHU Sainte-Justine children’s hospital in Montreal, he immediately said yes.
“I didn’t even hesitate,” the St. Thomas University education professor told Shift, in an interview.
That call from his publisher came a year ago, and since then, he’s had the opportunity to visit the hospital and see the reaction of kids who got to enjoy the animated version of his book.
Aux pinceaux, Domino was chosen as one of 10 books to be turned into a video as part of L’heure du conte, a storytime project at the hospital.
The book, published in 2002, follows Domino, a young boy who doesn’t yet know how to read. When he sees a variety of paintings on a visit to the park, he’s inspired to paint his own inspired by friendship.
Kids at the CHU Sainte-Justine children’s hospital in Montreal can now participate in a virtual storytime, with several books, including one from Lévesque. (Submitted by CHU Sainte-Justine)
Lévesque said he was told that his book was chosen because it was one of the ones children at the hospital enjoyed have read to them.
The video version of the book is read by Antoine Durand, a Quebec actor in Quebec who is the voice in the French version of Captain America.
Lévesque, who has written other books, says it’s rewarding to know that his book could help calm a child or take away some of their pain while they’re staying in hospital.
And he is all too familiar with the comfort children can get from storybooks.
When he was a young boy, being the youngest in the family, he would sit on his dad’s lap for the family prayer and a story before bed. But when his dad died, he overheard his aunt talking about how he probably wouldn’t remember his dad because of how young he was at the time.
“She probably doesn’t know this, but it really impacted me to the point where I said, ‘I really love my dad, I don’t want to forget him,’ so I started to write the stories that my dad would tell us before going to bed, and that’s how I started,” he said.
“Reading is very healing,” he said.
“I’m hoping that it will give them hope.
“I’m hoping that … for generations to come, many children will benefit from listening to those stories.”