Handwritten Book By 8-Year-Old Now Has Years-Long Waitlist At Library

An eight-year-old in the US state of Idaho wrote a children's book and covertly sneaked it into the local library's shelf without permission. Soon, the book became a hit with readers and now the book has a long waiting list. Dillon Helbig, a second-grader who lives in Idaho, finished writing the Christmas adventure story in his notebook in mid-December. He wanted people to read it so he hatched a plan and waited to pull it off. During a visit to the library in his city Boise with his grandmother, he quietly slipped the 88-page book into the children's picture-book shelf. Nobody saw him do that, not even his grandmother.

Later, however, Dillon Helbig told his mother, Susan Helbig, about it. Two days later, they went to the library but the book was missing. They called the library to urge them to not throw it away. To their surprise, the book had been a hit among readers. The Ada Community Library's Lake Hazel Branch shared the incident on their Facebook page. The library said the book – titled “The Adventures of Dillon's Crismis” – has won the 2021 Whoodini Award for Best Young Novelist, a category the library created for him.

The library branch manager Alex Hartman told The Washington Post, “It was a sneaky act.” But the book “was far too obviously special an item for us to consider getting rid of it,” Mr Hartman added. The book has a 55-person waitlist at the library, which allows patrons to hold onto books for up to four weeks.

Dillon Helbig's “sneaky act” has also received praise from Christopher Burgess, now an author who worked with the Central Intelligence Agency for more than 30 years. “I know a certain three-letter agency that is always looking for folks with skills like Dillion's,” said Mr Burgess.

Several others, too, commended Dillon Helbig.

“This is flipping awesome. We need more kids like Dillon, and more books authored by kids in this world,” said one user.

“This is the best news story I've ever read. 81 pages. Wow,” wrote another.

On the library's Facebook page, a person wrote, “Okay, how do I get a copy? The world needs Dillon's book.”

Another said that this story needs to “go viral” and she hoped that everyone is sharing it and asking their friends to share.

According to the BBC, Dillon's book tells the story of how a Christmas tree explosion sent him back to the year 1621. He titled it The Adventures of Dillon's Crismis