Comic Written by 8-Year-Old and Hidden in a Library Becomes a Sensation

A comic book written by an 8-year-old boy who conveniently left it on the bookshelves of his local library has become a hit.

Dillon Helbig's 81-page book, "The Adventures of Dillon Helbig's Crismis" by "Dillon His Self," is a Christmas adventure that was written in a red-cover notebook that contains illustrations with color pencils. Since being discovered it has gone viral on social media and there is now a waiting list of over 50 people wanting to read it at the Ada County Library in Boise, Idaho, 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," Dillon told "Good Morning America." "I've been going to libraries a lot since I was a baby."

When asked by his mother, Susan, why he had left his book on the shelves, Dillon had a simple answer: "I wanted people to read it." Susan promptly phoned the library to let them know that the book was not misplaced but in fact a gift to them from her son. 

Alex Hartman, the library's branch manager, processed Dillon's book and cataloged it under graphic novels. He was the first from an ever-growing list of people to read the book. 

"We’re just hoping that … children find inspiration to write their own stories and share those with other people," Hartman said. "I just think it’s a good demonstration to share with other kids."

The idea to leave his book on the shelves of the library came from Dillon's father, Alex, who did something similar when he was younger, creating copies of his album and stashing them around CD stores.

"My dad did this when he was a kid and kept doing it. He had a lot of records," Dillon said. "I didn't know he had 100 of them; I only had one book."

There will hopefully be a second book out soon though. Dillon has a new book in the works called "The Jacket Eating Closet," which he said is based on a true story.

"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," he said.

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