One 8-year-old’s life is an open book, and people are lining up to read about it.
After Dillon Helbig snuck a comic book he had written, titled The Adventures of Dillon Helbig’s Crismis, onto the shelf of his local county library in Boise, Idaho, in December, the library added the book to its catalog. As of Saturday, 55 people are on a waitlist to check out the comic book, according to the Washington Post.
“I wanted to put my book in the library center since I was 5, and I always had a love for books and libraries,” Helbig told Good Morning America. “I’ve been going to libraries a lot since I was a baby.”
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The 81-page comic book was created in a red notebook and drawn with colored pencils. The story centers on Helbig placing a star on top of his Christmas tree that explodes and sends him back in time to the first Thanksgiving and then the North Pole.
Helbig told his mother he had donated the book, prompting her to call the library to say the book was a gift and not to throw it away. Branch manager Alex Hartman told her he had noticed the book before the call and read it with a few of his coworkers before reading it to his son.
“Dillon is a confident guy and a generous guy. He wanted to share the story,” Hartman said. “I don’t think it’s a self-promotion thing. He just genuinely wanted other people to be able to enjoy his story … He’s been a lifelong library user, so he knows how books are shared.”
The library, which has now cataloged the book under graphic novels, created an award for Helbig called the “Whoodini” award for best young novelist, named after the library’s mascot.
Helbig said he has plans for a second novel about a jacket-eating closet based on a true story from kindergarten.
“Every time in kindergarten, I put my jacket in the closet, and during recess, it would be gone. The jackets are still gone, and that’s why I’m making the book,” Helbig said.
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Helbig is also working on a sequel to his Christmas book that ends with revenge on the Grinch.
Representatives for the library did not respond to the Washington Examiner’s request for comment.
