First time Marblehead author pens children’s book teaching tolerance
Marblehead surgeon Rebecca Kwait writes and illustrates 'The Frog from the Bog'
When COVID first hit, busy mom and surgeon Rebecca Kwait found herself with a little downtime -- but she didn’t spend it binging Netflix or making sourdough.
“Surgeries stopped and we were doing virtual visits from home,” said Kwait, who lives in Marblehead. “I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be so fun to write and illustrate a children’s book?’”
Kwait loved to paint and draw as a child growing up in Trinidad and she enjoys reading to her own kids, ages 5 and 7.
“One random weeknight I just kind of started writing and for whatever reason, a frog popped into my head. Shockingly, the story rhymed and I kept going with it.”
Kwait pretty much finished the story that night and then spent a year creating the book’s 32 illustrations in watercolor and pen.
When surgeries started up again and Kwait needed to commute to her hospital in Exeter, New Hampshire, it became trickier to find time to work on the project. But she didn’t give up.
“I was able to pull spare minutes together in increments,” she said. “Once I wrote the story I was so excited about it and it really became such a priority for my free time because I really wanted to see it come to life.”
The finished product, “The Frog from the Bog,” was published two months ago.
Samson’s story
The main character, Samson the frog, doesn't like living in his bog and wants to explore a farm next door. His frog friends warn him that he won’t be accepted, but he gathers his courage and goes anyway.
“The message of the book is one of acceptance -- of not judging people by their looks, of giving people a chance,” Kwait said.
What inspired her to write about tolerance? “Everything that went on last year in America,” Kwait said. “There was so much hate going around with COVID on the rise and the Trump movement targeting different groups.”
Supporting breast cancer research
“The Frog from the Bog” is available on Amazon.com and at the Marblehead Arts Association in the King Hooper Mansion. Kwait plans to donate some of the proceeds to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. She now works at Massachusetts General North in Danvers and Salem Hospital.
“As a breast cancer surgeon, I take care of women with breast cancer and I see how hard it is to go through it,” Kwait said. She wants to support the search for less aggressive treatments that offer patients a better quality of life.