Authors band together to replace girl's beloved books lost in fire
Authors, librarians and illustrators are banding together to help a girl who lost all her beloved books in a house fire.
Heidi VanSumeren, 8, is an avid reader who also designs books of her own. But all her supplies and reading materials were destroyed last month when a fire decimated her family's Parma, Michigan home.
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"I just kept telling her it would be okay," Heidi's mother told MLive.com. She was right: an unexpected act of kindness was on the way.
Children's author and illustrator Bob Shea met Heidi during a visit to her elementary school for March Is Reading Month. After hearing her story, he reached out to fellow authors and illustrators on Twitter, urging them to help Heidi replace her beloved book collection.
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And it worked. Since Shea's tweets, Heidi has received more than 300 books, a desk, a chair, bookshelves and new art supplies.
She especially enjoys looking at the personal messages authors have written in the volumes — a welcome beacon of light in an otherwise difficult time.
“Books are really special for her,” Heidi's mother told Good Morning America. “We can talk to her and try to explain but when she can read it on her own whenever she’s sad and needs help, that’s always been an easier way for her to understand things.”
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Chloe was the shopping editor at Mashable. She was also previously a culture reporter. You can follow her on Twitter at @chloebryan.
