Like most 9-year-old boys, Solomon Donoho of Lincoln enjoys playing video games with his brothers or going hiking with his family while listening to the latest songs from DJ Marshmello.
Unlike other children his age, he is currently writing his second book.
In May, he released “The Legend of DJ Awesome,” a chapter book illustrated by Nina Vondran about a superhero who is also a DJ and saves his city from villains. After completing the book, he set a goal to make it available to at least 1,000 children who might not otherwise be able to afford it.
“Books are quite expensive, so I wanted to do something so that the children don’t have to buy books as well,” he said.
A home library can have a positive impact on children. In 2018, Scholastic.com published an article evaluating two studies that examined how books at home improved not only children’s reading skills but also their math skills.
This is already the case for Solomon. His mother is an author and owner of the small publishing house and book coaching company Teddyfly.com.
“She made a lot of books, and I was dragged to a lot of farmers markets (to promote her books) and then I wanted to do something of my own,” he explained.
Nicole Donoho said of her three sons, Solomon is the most interested in storytelling.
“Solomon is the only one I know who loves to read – he devours books – so I was happy about that,” Nicole said. “I never pushed him to be a writer or said, ‘Sit down and write’ or anything like that. He just has an incredible imagination.”
She started Teddyfly in 2019 to publish her own work and began publishing other authors in 2021. Most of the books available on Teddyfly are children’s picture books, but there is also fiction and nonfiction.
“I worked for publishing consultants and other publishers and I just didn’t like the model,” she said. “I didn’t think it served authors well, and I wanted a place that authors could trust. (Teddyfly) was created by an author for authors.”
WRITING PROCESS
Nicole Donoho said there were signs that Solomon would follow in her footsteps. For example, he always tries to guess what will happen next in movies and he loves making up Minecraft adventures for his older brothers, even if they solve the puzzles too quickly.
When Solomon was in third grade, Nicole says he came to her with pictures he had drawn and ideas for the book. She treated him like her clients, telling him that she would not write the book for him but would type it up while he dictated the story to her.
“He had the whole first chapter worked out and then added pictures and everything,” she said. His ideas came so quickly that she could tell he was getting frustrated.
“It had a lot of characters and all the action moments were present, it was really great,” she said.
Solomon didn’t rely heavily on his mother for character development or the plot of “The Legend of DJ Awesome,” she said.
There was only one instance where he needed tutoring, she said. He was bored with a character and decided to have DJ Awesome kill him. His brothers, not his mother, helped him come to his senses – the good guys don’t kill.
“When his brother told him it was not okay for a good person to kill someone, he finally sent him to prison,” she said.
Nicole said Solomon also received positive support in writing the book from his teacher, Miss Mitchell, at Lincoln Middle School. Mitchell had him give a presentation to her class after the book was released.
“And she bought my book!” said Solomon.
So far this summer, the Donohos have set up booths at the Prairie Grove Farmers Market, Pearl’s Books and City Park in Fayetteville, selling paperback and hardback copies of the book and accepting donations for Solomon’s book collection.
BOOK A TRIP
Nicole said Solomon wanted to sell his books for only $2 each so that everyone could have a book.
“We had to have a little meeting about how the business works and how much goods cost,” she said. Instead, she encouraged him to start a book collection.
Last year, Nicole hosted a book drive where she was able to give away 80 copies of Labels, Who Do You See?, a simple book for kindergarteners that teaches children that there is more to other people than meets the eye.
She got the idea for a book collection after leading a storytelling workshop for children at public libraries in Rogers, Farmington and Prairie Grove. She is always interested in how children respond to stories.
“It was just great to see them having the opportunity to express their thoughts and build their confidence through the story that was inside them,” she said. “When I saw how excited they were about books, I thought, ‘I want to get books into the hands of as many children as possible.'”
In her workshops, Donoho teaches young writers how to describe and develop characters and craft a plot.
“Kids have incredible imaginations and I love the stories they make up,” she says, admitting that she’s the one who included a “Write Your Own Adventure” note at the end of “The Legend of DJ Awesome” to help other kids – and parents – develop their storytelling skills at home.
Just like with their book drive, Donoho Solomon explained that they needed to set a goal of how many books they wanted to collect and when the book drive should end.
Solomon told her he wanted to raise $1,000 before school started in August.
“I thought, ‘Oh, OK, why not?'” she said, laughing. They set their deadline for August 17 and found lots of ways people could help through sponsorship. Since they don’t have a nonprofit, they are sponsoring the cost of the book. “For every $5 donated to the book drive, we can donate a book to children in local schools.”
Nicole said a friend suggested they also start a GoFundMe campaign to help with the costs, as some people are more familiar with the platform.
So far, they have raised enough to distribute 334 copies of “The Legend of DJ Awesome” to third-graders at Lincoln Elementary School, fifth-graders at West Fork Middle School, third- and fourth-graders at West Fork Elementary, and students at K8 Connect in Springdale.
For Solomon, this summer isn’t all work and no play. He’s trying to convince the family to get a cat while trying out new games on Roblox – a digital gaming platform – and creating worlds in Minecraft, a video game that allows players to create their own worlds and games in its pixelated universe. Nicole said they might still do a pop-up at the Prairie Grove Farmer’s Market if that doesn’t interfere with Solomon’s summer camp.
For more information about The Legend of DJ Awesome book drive and more, visit teddyfly.com.
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AT A GLANCE
Nine-year-old author Solomon Donoho from Lincoln wants to share his book, The Legend of DJ Awesome, with local children and is raising money for a book drive to give away 1,000 copies before school starts in August.
“The Legend of DJ Awesome” is the story of a superhero and DJ who saves his hometown of Music City from the villainous Death Man and other baddies “as if he were conducting a symphony of bravery and beats,” according to the book’s description.
Find copies or donate to the campaign at teddyfly.com.
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View here
Solomon Donoho talks about his book “The Legend of DJ Awesome” on the Northest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette YouTube page.
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