ATHENS – The illustrator of a children’s book aimed at showing them the dangers of COVID-19 that was burned by anti-vaxxers and pandemic deniers said that the act sorrowed him.

“It is terrible where things can lead,” Pangiotis Rappas told Kathimerini about the burning of the book written by Eugenios Trivizas given to the Health Minister on a non-profit basis.

“Parents who handcuff teachers and now parents who burn books – all this saddens me,” said the award-winning illustrator, who has vast experience in the production of children’s animation films in Greece and abroad.

It happened at a protest in the town of of Halkida on the island of Evia were demonstrators also burnt masks and rapid test kits in their opposition to vaccines and health measures aimed at saving their lives.

The outlined the dangers of the Coronavirus and offered safety advice to children as the New Democracy government opened a platform for students and children 5-11 to be vaccinated and requiring health measures in schools.

The book, titled No! You Will Not Get in Our Nose, was written during the first wave of the pandemic in 2020 before vaccinates were available during a lockdown limiting where people could go.

The book began being distributed in schools and kindergartens in March and there was no explanation why the protesters waited nine months to complain and conduct their protest.

The book tells of a planet of “terrible” omnivorous anteaters who want to take over the Earth because they see humans from afar like ants, their leader sending viruses led by COVID-19 to get into the noses of children and adults.

It showed the virus invasion failed because people, especially children, stayed at home reading books to avoid being infected, the report said.