The Pinch Pixie
Conquering Vaccine Fear with a Healthy Dose of Magic and a Pinch of Science
written by Heather Dagostino and Kevin Dagostino
illustrated by Larissa Gurido

Does your child have a fear of shots?

The Pinch Pixie is a magical fairy who helps cure vaccine fear. She’s just like the Tooth Fairy but for shots.

In this whimsical story, The Pinch Pixie brings courage to children to get their shots. And afterwards, she leaves them a reward for their bravery.

This book will help your child understand the science behind vaccines. It also explains how vaccines help them as well as others.

If your child has anxiety about shots or needles, this book is a parents’ must-have.

Parents, make sure you’re ready for a visit from the Pinch Pixie!
Read this book with your child before an upcoming vaccine, and have a reward ready for them.

A note from the authors:
“Our five-year-old daughter was very anxious about getting her first coronavirus vaccination. Her flu shot was awful for all of us. The Pinch Pixie came to visit her, and it was amazing the difference it made.

She woke up the morning of her vaccine appointment crying about how scared she was. Once she found a letter from the Pinch Pixie, she was bouncing off the walls with excitement to get the shot. The promise of a reward afterwards was an added bonus.

She got her first COVID-19 vaccine that day without any fuss. And she has gotten vaccines stress-free since (of course with a little help from the Pinch Pixie).”

5 out of 5 fairies

I loved this book – from the rhyming story to the adorable illustrations, it’s just wonderful. Kids and parents alike will adore this book, and it’s a great way to help kids get over fear of getting vaccines. I know I would have loved this as a kid!

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Lily:  Thank you so much for agreeing to this interview, I really enjoyed reading The Pinch Pixie. What inspired you to write this?

Heather:  Our five-year-old daughter was having a lot of anxiety about getting her first coronavirus shot. 

Two days before her first dose, we were getting desperate to help her get over her fears.  We stayed up late that evening brainstorming about a special visit from the Tooth Fairy or Elf on the Shelf, but ultimately decided it needed to be its own thing.  A quick Google search didn’t bring up anything specific to vaccines, so we thought we’d see what we could come up with.  

Some of the guidance I had come across online suggested calling the shot a “pinch,” because it’s more relatable to kids and not as intimidating, so we ran with that. 

After about 30 minutes of writing, we had our first draft of a letter to leave for our daughter on the morning of her vaccine, and the Pinch Pixie – a fairy that brings a message of courage and a reward for getting vaccines – was born.

Lily:  That’s awesome! Was it hard to find an illustrator?

Heather:  We really lucked out with our illustrator. I found the website Fiverr, that connects freelancers of all kinds with clients. I knew the look I wanted for the illustrations, so I searched illustrators and narrowed it down to a few. We requested samples from the finalists, and picked our illustrator based on the samples we received. She really brought what I had in mind to life.

Lily:  Sounds like serendipity. If the Pinch Pixie were to visit you, what would she bring?

Heather:  The Pinch Pixie works with the child’s parents to bring the reward that would work best for the child reading the book. For me personally, she might bring a nap. 😂

Lily:  Hehe I don’t think I’d survive without naps. Now we’d like to talk about you as a writer. Do you have a favorite time of day to write?

Heather:  I’m a stay-at-home mom to a six- and two-year old, so I squeeze writing in whenever and wherever I can. For turning the Pinch Pixie’s letter into a book, my husband and I wrote and re-wrote (and re-wrote again) after the kids’ bedtime for the most part. 

Lily:  I’m glad you find time to write. Have you written any other books?

Heather:  This is our first book!

Lily:  I hope to see more books from you in the future. Do you have any other books planned?

Heather:  If this book does well enough, we’d love to do more books in the future. We’ve already had requests to do a version of the book for kids that require frequent blood draws, and we’d love to publish a book to help those families.

Lily:  Oh, that would be awesome! Let’s finish up with some fun questions and get inside your mind. What’s your favorite color? Do you have a least favorite?

Heather: My favorite color is cobalt blue.  My wedding shoes were cobalt blue, and served as my something blue. We had hundreds of blue glass bottles as centerpieces at the reception and we still have them as decorations in our house, and as a memento from the wedding. 

It’s funny, before I would have said that I didn’t care much for purple but I’ve kind of made it the Pinch Pixie’s signature color. I use it a lot to promote the book now, and it’s definitely growing on me.

Lily:  I love cobalt blue! It’s actually pretty close to the color of my first car. What’s the strangest food you’ve tried or heard of?

Heather:  I’m a life-long Floridian so I’ve tried alligator. It tastes like chicken but it’s tough. Not my favorite!

Lily:  Alligator is definitely an interesting one. Would you rather be able to fly or breathe underwater?

Heather:  Fly for sure. We love to travel, and it’d be nice to bypass the interstate traffic jams.

Lily:  Skipping sitting in the car for hours in traffic would be wonderful. Would you rather have breakfast for dinner or dinner for breakfast? What would you eat?

Heather:  Breakfast for dinner is always a hit with my husband and kids. We’d do pancakes or waffles with fresh fruit, scrambled eggs and breakfast sausage. Some Greek yogurt for the kids if I’m trying to convince myself that makes it a “healthy” meal. 

Lily:  Hehe sounds like a great dinner. What’s your favorite holiday? Do you have a favorite tradition associated with it?

Heather:  My favorite holiday is Halloween. I love all the fall festivities like pumpkin patches, corn mazes, costume parties (even if it’s still 90 degrees here). I have a lot of fun putting together our family costumes, and sometimes even multiple costumes for the kids.

Lily:  Halloween is definitely my favorite too! If you could go back in time, only as an observer, when and where would you go?

Heather:  If this were at all possible, I’m positive my husband would drag me to ancient Rome.

Lily:  Hehe ancient Rome would certainly be interesting. What book would you love to spend a day in?

Heather:  Probably Harry Potter, who doesn’t want to be a witch or wizard with special powers??

Lily:  I’d definitely love to have practical magic I could use every day. Is there anything else you would like to add that I haven’t included?

Heather:  We never set out to become children’s book authors. We both have writing experience but the writing experience we do have is worlds apart from rhyming picture books.  We just stumbled onto an idea that worked so well for our own daughter that we thought we might be able to help other families dealing with the same issue.

Lily:  I’m glad you decided to share it! How can readers discover more about you and you work?

Heather: Readers can learn more about us, and follow for updates, on our family’s Instagram, @thedagsfam

Heather Dagostino is a stay-at-home parent and co-author of The Pinch Pixie. Heather earned an advertising degree from Florida State University and worked as a writer and account manager for a financial services company for over 10 years.

Kevin Dagostino is an attorney and co-author of The Pinch Pixie. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Florida State University and his law degree from Stetson University. He currently works as a staff attorney writing legal decisions.

Heather and Kevin are passionately pro-science and pro-vaccine, aspiring to help kids grow up to feel the same way. The couple lives in Florida with their two children and one pup.

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