Just because a book’s not on the bestseller list doesn’t mean it can’t be the most popular read in town. At one library in Boise, Idaho there’s a years-long waiting list for one title. You’d think they’d order another copy, right?
Well, they can’t because, technically speaking, the book’s never been published.
Its author, an 8-year-old second-grader named Dillon Helbig, surreptitiously slipped his hand-written, 81-page, self-illustrated masterpiece into the stacks of the children’s section of his local library because he simply wanted to share the holiday-themed story he’d created with other kids.
Dillon, a regular patron, was on a visit to the Ada Community Library’s Hazel Branch when he deposited the lone copy of The Adventures of Dillon Helbig’s Crismis (signed “by Dillon His Self”) between some other picture books on the shelves. His random act of literature went unnoticed at the time… but not for long.
When Dillon got home, he confessed the day’s exploits to his mom, Susan. She wasn’t surprised by what he’d done. She knew Dillon had long harbored a hankering to add his name to the ranks of the library’s authors.
“I’ve been wanting to put a book in the library since I was 5,” Dillon told KTVB-7 News.
Concerned that Dillon’s book would be discarded or lost, Susan contacted the library to see if they’d found it and would hold onto it for them. She was in for a bit of a surprise.
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Not only had the staff found it, they thought it was pretty exceptional and even though the circumstances were unusual, they felt it would be a perfect addition to their collection. (The fact Branch manager Alex Hartman’s 6-year-old son Cruzen gave the fantastical tale that includes Santa Claus, an exploding Christmas tree ornament, time travel, and a giant turkey an enthusiastic thumbs up probably didn’t hurt.)
“Dillon is a confident guy and a generous guy. He wanted to share the story,” Hartman told The Washington Post. “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.”
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With an official bar code and labels affixed to its distinctive red cover, Dillon’s wish of earning a place in the library’s card catalog came true. Before long, The Adventures of Dillon Helbig’s Crismis proved so popular, it had one of the longest waiting lists in the library’s history.
For his efforts, the library awarded Dillon its inaugural Whoodini Award for Best Young Novelist. Named for the library’s owl mascot, it was a category created just for him.
While readers as far away as Texas had hoped to have the chance to borrow the coveted title through an exchange program, with only one copy, that wasn’t possible. To meet the demand, Hartman and Dillon’s mom are exploring options for an e-book version so the book can be loaned out to a broader audience.
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Flush with success, Dillon isn’t resting on his laurels. He’s already working on his next opus. “It’s about a jacket-eating closet,” he told TODAY.
With his boundless imagination combined an unstoppable determination, at 8, Dillon Helbig is already a literary force to be reckoned with. We can hardly wait to see what he accomplishes when he grows up.
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