Katalin Kariko for kids: a true picture book
Katalin and the Tiny Messenger. Ask a question and don't stop until you know. 10 pages, fact-checked, at three reading levels, read aloud.
The lesson: Keep going when people tell you your idea will not work.
Read the first pages free
Zip, zip, zip! Money goes inside a teddy bear. Katalin's family is going on a big, big trip.
In 1985, Katalin Kariko left Hungary. She went with her husband and her daughter. Their savings were sewn inside her daughter's teddy bear. Shh! The bear held a secret.
In 1985, Katalin Kariko left Hungary for the United States with her husband and daughter. They carried their savings in a surprising place: sewn into her daughter's teddy bear. Savings are money a family has put away bit by bit over time. Bringing it all in one cuddly bear meant the whole family's money traveled together, tucked safely out of sight.
Page 1 of 10
Hello, new home! Hug the teddy bear tight. A brand-new start.
The family came to the United States. The teddy bear came too, with the savings tucked inside. It was a new place. It was a new start for Katalin.
After leaving Hungary in 1985, the family began again in the United States, their savings still sewn inside the teddy bear. Katalin went to work at the University of Pennsylvania. A university is a big school where people study and also do research, which means careful work to discover new things. There, she began years of work on something very small with a very big name.
Page 2 of 10
Katalin Kariko: a timeline of true facts
- 1985 She left Hungary for the United States with her husband and daughter, carrying savings sewn into her daughter's teddy bear. source
- 1990s She worked for years on messenger RNA (mRNA) even though she had trouble getting grants and was demoted at the University of Pennsylvania. source
- 2005 With Drew Weissman she found a way to change mRNA so the body's defenses did not attack it. source
- 2023 She and Weissman won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Their work made mRNA COVID-19 vaccines possible. source
3 reading levels
- Read to me (ages 3–5)
- Read together (ages 6–8)
- I'll read (ages 9–12)
The same true story, written three ways. Little kids hear short, bouncy lines; big kids get the details and the numbers.
Quiz time
Where did Katalin's family hide their savings?
Show the answer
In a teddy bear.
Try this at home
- Secret teddy pocket: With a grown-up, tape or pin a tiny paper 'treasure' inside a stuffed animal's clothes, then have someone try to find it.
- Messenger game: Whisper a short instruction like 'touch your nose' to one person, and have them pass it along. Does the message arrive right? Try again and see if it gets better.
- Try-again tower: Build the tallest block or cup tower you can. When it falls, change one thing and build again. Count how many tries it takes to beat your record.
