PENNSYLVANIA FURNACE — John M. Cimbala, professor of mechanical engineering at Penn State, has written a children’s book while at home practicing social distancing. He said his young grandchildren didn’t understand why grandma and grandpa weren’t coming to visit. So, he sat down and wrote a book to help explain the situation.
“Dalton Duck and the Big Sick” was written with the intention to encourage children, their parents and their grandparents during this time of isolation and staying home.
“I called the virus ‘the big sick’ to simplify terms for little kids,” Cimbala said. “This book helps children understand social distancing and gives them hope that home isolation will end. I included other things that you find in a children’s lap book. There are colorful illustrations that invite a child to search for the parrot in each picture and find differences between pairs of similar pictures.”
Cimbala was born in Pittsburgh and graduated from Norwin High School in North Huntingdon in 1975. He earned his bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering in 1979 from Penn State. He added his master’s and doctorate in aeronautics from California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, Calif., in 1980 and 1984, respectively. He and his wife, Suzanne, have two grown sons and two grandchildren. They live in Pennsylvania Furnace, but the grandchildren live a couple of hours away.
“We usually saw the grandchildren twice a month, so when time went by and there was no visit, my grandson started questioning,” explained Cimbala. “My book is for him and other children who don’t understand why we’ve had to make these changes in our lives.”
In the story, Dalton Duck must learn why he has to stay away from other ducks and why his grandparents, aunts and uncles and others can’t visit him and why he can’t go to grandma and grandpa’s nest. Dalton has to see them on the computer screen. He is so happy when the “big sick” finally ends and he and his family can do things together again.
This is not the first book Cimbala has written, but it’s the first for children. He published it through Amazon and it is available in paperback and on Kindle. He also did his own illustrations.
Cimbala was one of 50 Ph.D. scientists who wrote short articles about why they believe in a six-day creation for a a compilation in 2001 titled, “In Six Days: Why Fifty Scientists Choose to Believe in Creation.”
“I have written several Bible studies and Christian novels,’ Cimbala said. ‘I published my first novel, ‘I Adam: The Man without a Navel,’ in 2015 and in 2017, I published ‘I Peter: My Life in Threes,’ an autobiography of Peter, one of Jesus’ 12 apostles.”
In Dalton Duck, there are references to prayer and Jesus.
Cimbala maintains a Christian resource website called “Christian Faith Grower,” where he posts articles, school materials, books, devotionals and small group Bible studies — most of which are free to download as PDF files. One of his more recent books is ‘Growing Old Together: A Serious Comical Devotional for Married Couples.”
In his professional life, Cimbala has written several books; the best known are about fluid mechanics. He has contributed or co-written on the subject since 1991. All his writings can be found on his professional website at www.me.psu.edu/cimbala/.
