Montreal ER nurse explores inclusiveness in debut children's book

A Montreal nurse is now a published author and the book isn’t tales from the operating room; it’s a children’s book.

"It’s so different from what I do, otherwise," said Bonnie Frankel, who’s been an operating room nurse for 45 years — the last 24 at St. Mary’s Hospital.

A few years after beginning her nursing career, she came up with the idea for the book. It was supposed to be to read to her three young children.

"I wrote the story, and I put it away. You’re so busy with school, homework, working and life and I didn’t have the cast of characters in my head. I wanted it to be universal and I couldn’t figure it out."

Then came the pandemic. Frankel was going through her home and found the story.

"And when I reread the story, I immediately thought of the cast of characters as the animals," she said.

The book is called Hop in Lot. The main character, Hop, comes from a place where everyone hops, but when he moves to Lot, he sees that everyone walks, so Hop has to come to terms with being different.

"The words today seem to be emotions, inclusiveness and diversity, but they’re giving words to something that’s always been there," Frankel said, "and that every parent has always felt."