Children's author Patricia MacLachlan honors Newtown residents with new book

Children’s author Patricia MacLachlan is writing a picture book she says she was inspired to create after speaking with a friend who lives in Newtown, Conn., said the author.

MacLachlan, who is the author of the book “Sarah, Plain and Tall,” among others, is friends with illustrator Steven Kellogg, who has lived for decades with his family in the Sandy Hook section of Newtown.

The book, called “Snowflakes Fall,” uses the title object to discuss themes like the differences among individuals and how time can heal. It is illustrated by Kellogg, the first time the two have worked together.

“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.”

Kellogg told Publishers Weekly that he thought of Sandy Hook and its residents when completing the illustrations for the book.

“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,” he said.

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. Random House Children’s Books also plans to give 25,000 books to First Book, a nonprofit which “connects book publishers and community organizations to provide access to new books for children in need,” according to their website.