8-year-old boy sneaked his handwritten book to a library. It’s a hit

It all started when Helbig received a journal from his grandmother on Christmas. The young author soon filled the journal with a richly illustrated story in just four days. He named the book, The Adventures of Dillon Helbig’s Crismis and ascribed it to “Dillon His Self”. The 81-page story talks about Helbig’s time travel adventures as he gets transported to 1621 after a Christmas tree explodes in his house.

By the end of December, Dillion’s grandmother took him to the Lake Hazel branch of the Ada Community Library in Boise. Ready to share his book with the world, Helbig used this visit to sneak it in and put it on one of the library shelves, hoping to find more readers.

After a few days, when the young boy checked for his book in the library, he found it gone. The book wasn’t lost but discovered by readers and library staff who were charmed by it. The library staff added the book to its catalogue and found it in great demand.

Alex Hartman, the library branch manager, told the Guardian, “Dillon’s book definitely fit all the criteria that we would look for to include a book in our collection.” He also added that Helbig’s debut book has a 55-person waiting list.

❣️📕 A whole lot of goodness in this piece.
Kudos to the Ada Community Library for making the book part of the graphic-novel section.

“The Adventures of Dillon Helbig’s Crismis” “by Dillon His Self.””

Read here: https://t.co/I3bk9z31Af
(my subscription means no cost to you) pic.twitter.com/8rdTdHFF8U

— Christopher Burgess (@burgessct) February 1, 2022

I can’t wait to read THE ADVENTURES OF DILLON HELBIG’S CRISMIS!!
An 8-year-old slid his handwritten book onto a library shelf. It now has a years-long waitlist. https://t.co/92yq2Fz4UC

— David Heska Wanbli Weiden (writing! semi-hiatus) (@WanbliWeiden) January 31, 2022

The cutest news I’ve read in a long time 😍 https://t.co/8526wOia2E

— Dr Sulbha Arora (@SulbhaArora) February 3, 2022

It looks I’ll have to wait quite a while to read about “The Adventures of Dillon Helbig’s Crismis.” Rest assured I’ll be ready for what Dillon comes up with next! https://t.co/R2EWWIDBqV

— Cong. Mike Simpson (@CongMikeSimpson) February 3, 2022

Can’t stop thinking about the story of a kid in Idaho who self-published his debut graphic novel (“The Adventures of Dillon Helbig’s Crismis”) by leaving it on a library shelf. The librarians loved it, barcoded it & now people are queuing up to borrow it https://t.co/JZ7OYd7u4q

— Anna Codrea-Rado (@annacod) February 2, 2022

I think we are going to hear a lot more from this little guy someday. good job Dilion.

— M.kirkmclean (@MKirkmclean) January 31, 2022

I love this! The book, titled “The Adventures of Dillon Helbig’s Crismis,” is signed “by Dillon His Self.” And there’s a waiting list to borrow the book. https://t.co/YwMq6pZOnG

— Bob Leonard (@BobOne4All) February 1, 2022

Motivated by the success of his first book, Helbig is already working on his next story based on actual events. He told USA Today he has named his next work, “The Jacket-Eating Closet”.