8-year-old Cary Elementary student publishes book with big message

CARY, NC (WTVD) -- Eight-year-old Christian Day Hutchins, a rising 4th grader at Cary Elementary, spent his summer doing something most kids his age never do. He published a book called The Giant.

"During class, I got a little bored," said Christian, as he explained how he started to write the story. "Also, I did it to inspire other people to write a book and to have teamwork together. The story is about a Giant who comes to town and ruins everything. The town must come together to rebuild."

Christian's dad discovered the story while going through his bookbag. "A lot of kids his age aren't writing books and I liked the story," Darryl Hutchins explained. "It had conflict and resolution and I was like that's neat for an 8-year-old concept. When I saw this it was something I wanted to encourage him to continue doing."

After helping his son publish the book, Darryl Hutchins posted an update on his Nextdoor application about it.

Chris Ashworth, who runs Lynn's and Daphne's Hallmark Store in Cary saw the post and reached out. "We're always looking for local talent to showcase in our stores," Ashworth said. "So, when the book published and we met at the office and Ii found out how young he was, I was floored, it was amazing."

The store will sell Hutchin's book and host a book signing on August 18th from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m.

"It''s about overcoming fears at a young age and teamwork," Christian said.

His father hopes their story inspires other parents saying, "Support your kids, look through your kids' stuff because you might find treasure."