Toby Saves the Night: A Community Author Picture Book

Submitted by Brooke Rose

FCPL has a new Easy book in its Community Author collection! Toby Saves the Night was written and illustrated by one of Sharon Forks Library's VolunTEEN/TAB members, Dia Shashikiran, along with her best friend, Lucky Boren. Dia and Lucky have been best friends since preschool, and now they are seniors in high school, preparing for graduation and all that lies beyond.

Dia and Lucky both aspire to be future healthcare professionals and crafted their story around the topic of sleeping disorders. Toby’s family members each suffer from a different disorder, from sleepwalking and nightmares to snoring and insomnia. Toby saves the night by helping each family member get a good night’s sleep! The book ends with tips on how to help people who suffer from the various sleeping problems mentioned throughout the story.

The overall process to write, illustrate, and publish the book took about 1.5 years, and Dia and Lucky have already sold 120 copies in Florida. Dia brought a copy to donate to Sharon Forks and said, “This library has been such a big part of my life, I wanted to give something back to it.” She has been a dedicated volunteer and valuable part of our teen programs for several years—creating decor, planning programs, completing pull lists…all the things! She will be missed when she graduates and moves on to her college chapter!