Authors are helping Sandy Hook, Connecticut residents according to Publishers Weekly.  Children’s author Patricia MacLachlan is writing a picture book she says she was inspired to create after speaking with an illustrator friend, Steven Kellogg, who has lived for decades with his family in the Sandy Hook section of Newtown.

MacLachlan, the author of Sarah, Plain and Tall, is a friend of illustrator Steven Kellogg, a long time resident of Sandy Hook.  

The book, called “Snowflakes Fall,” uses the title object to discuss themes like the differences among individuals and how time can heal. In Ms. MacLachlan's words:

I wrote this book after my dear friend Steven Kellogg told me of his sadness and concern for his community, and children everywhere,” the author told Publishers Weekly. “This is a sadness that the world felt, and that I felt too. What brought us comfort was the idea of renewal and memory and, while writing every word, I thought about all children touched by loss.

Patricia MacLachlin and Nancy Stewart
Illinois Reading Council Conference
March, 2012

Mr. Kellogg said:

It is my hope that this book will celebrate the laughter, the playful high spirits, and the uniqueness of the children of Sandy Hook, and of children everywhere. 

The book will be released by Random House Children’s Books this coming fall. The imprint of Random House will, together with Random House, make donations to an organization of MacLachlan and Kellogg’s selection that benefits Sandy Hook victims as well as to a yet-to-be-decided national organization that centers on children.