New photos released this week of the Duchess of Sussex entertaining young patients at the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) on March 21st with a storytime session show she picked a personal favourite for the occasion, after first reading the book in September at the Invictus Games.
Echoing Queen Camilla’s love of reading to youngsters, Meghan led a ‘Literally Healing’ session and top of the list was Rosie Revere, Engineer, a book by US author Andrea Beaty which Meghan, 42, was first spotted reading in September to the children of Invictus Games athletes in Dusseldorf.
Beaty is known for writing books that encourage young girls to enjoy STEM subjects – Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, and also wrote Ada Twist, Scientist, which was adapted by Netflix.
Rosie Revere, Engineer was one of a series of books the Duchess spent reading out loud during the visit to the California hospital, which lies a 90-minute drive from the Montecito home Meghan shares with Prince Harry and their two children, Prince Archie, four, and Princess Lilibet, two.
Meghan Markle dropped by the Los Angeles Children’s Hospital on March 21st, with photos of the ‘literally healing’ session appearing this week; the Duchess, 42, chose to read Rosie Revere, Engineer by Andrea Beaty, which she also read at the Invictus Games in September
In September, Meghan hosted a private children’s reading session at the Invictus Game – and Rosie Revere, Engineer was among the stories she read
‘Children were laughing and singing as The Duchess turned into character with every page as she read patient favourite books like Rosie the Riveter, Pete the Cat and I Saw a Cat’, read an official statement on the visit.
Photos and footage show Meghan also shared hugs with the children and staff, as well as taking photographs with them.
Meghan’s storytime was part of the Make March Matter campaign, an annual fundraiser at the hospital that aims to create hope and build healthier futures with the help of ‘celebrities, business and the greater community’ .
The Literally Healing programme at CHLA sees more than 65,000 books given to families every year.
‘With literacy development and fun in mind, the mother-of-two also helped kids with STEAM activities tied to each book that let patients explore counting, colours, problem solving and more,’ the statement added, the A in STEAM standing for the Arts.
The book Rosie Revere, Engineer is an illustrated tale of a girl and her dream to become a great engineer.
The Duchess of Sussex visited the hospital on March 21, when she led a ‘Literally Healing’ session
Meghan travelled 90 minutes from her Montecito home to Los Angeles to meet and read to patients
The book Rosie Revere, Engineer is an illustrated tale of a girl and her dream to become a great engineer – author Andrea Beaty is known for encouraging girls to enjoy STEM subjects
Its preview reads: ‘Where some people see rubbish, Rosie Revere sees inspiration. Alone in her room at night, shy Rosie constructs great inventions from odds and ends.
‘Hot dog dispensers, helium pants, python-repelling cheese hats. Rosie’s gizmos would astound—if she ever let anyone see them.
‘Afraid of failure, she hides them away under her bed.
‘Until a fateful visit from her great-great-aunt Rose, who shows her that a first flop isn’t something to fear—it’s something to celebrate.’
The Duchess herself is a children’s book author after releasing The Bench, a story inspired by Archie’s relationship with his father, Prince Harry.
Meghan’s latest storytime session was part of the Make March Matter campaign, an annual fundraiser at the hospital that aims to create hope and build healthier futures with the help of ‘celebrities, business and the greater community’
During her visit, Meghan (pictured) also shared hugs with the children and staff, as well as taking photographs with them
Meghan poses for a group photograph during her visit last month to the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles
For her outing, Meghan opted for an elegant floral ensemble and wore a mask, likely to help protect the children from any infections
Meghan seen interacting with children during the Storytime session at the Children’s Hospital
‘Children were laughing and singing as The Duchess turned into character with every page as she read patient favourite books like Rosie the Riveter, Pete the Cat and I Saw a Cat’, read a statement about the solo visit
‘The Bench started as a poem I wrote for my husband on Father’s Day, the month after Archie was born,’ Meghan said in the press release from publisher Random House Children’s Books. ‘That poem became this story.’
The book was dedicated by Meghan to Harry and Archie: ‘For the man and the boy who make my heart go pump-pump,’ the dedication read.
To mark Archie’s first birthday in May 2020, the mother and son appeared in a clip where she read Duck! Rabbit! by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Tom Lichtenheld.
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