By: Ainsley Hall
MARTINSBURG — Demi Lewin celebrated the release of her first children’s book, “Sunflower Surprise,” on Thursday at Jordan & Hess Company.
Friends and family gathered to get a signed copy of the book, which was inspired by her students at Rosemont Elementary School.
Before Lewin retired, she worked as a school librarian at Rosemont Elementary. During her time at the school, she would put together a Sunflower Festival every year for students. They got the opportunity to grow their own sunflowers and learn more about them.
“At the end of the school year, I would hand out sunflower seeds,” Lewin said. “Students would grow their flowers over the summer, and then, when we came back together, they would bring their sunflower. It was like a county fair. Everyone got to show off what they grew and won an award for their hard work.”
Not only did students get to show off their sunflowers, but they also got to try sunflower seeds and other fun treats made from sunflowers. Lewin also invited a guest speaker to come talk about sunflowers. After 30 years working at Rosemont Elementary School, Lewin decided it was time to retire.
Through her career as a school librarian, Lewin fell in love with children’s literature. Every year, she attends the Children’s Literature Conference and learns more about the new authors and their books. It was from this passion that Lewin decided to try writing a book herself.
“I loved doing the Sunflower Festival,” Lewin said. “When I retired, I thought that it would make a great children’s book, and I started writing. My students had such a great time doing the Sunflower Festival.”
She started to look for an illustrator located in Berkeley County and found Joe Santoro, an art teacher at Hedgesville Elementary School. Together, they made a story following Jon and his grandfather as they grow a sunflower for the Sunflower Festival.
At the end of the story, the students are highlighted in The Journal, sharing their hard work with the rest of the community. The book also includes pictures of Lewin’s students participating in the Sunflower Festival, as well as a painting done by one of her students.
During Lewin’s book celebration, instead of selling the book, she asked guests to donate to the Backpack Program. This program fights food insecurity for students in Berkeley County by filling backpacks with simple meals for children. It currently serves around 700 students in the county. Each of her books included a pack of sunflower seeds for readers to try growing their own.
Lewin hopes to continue writing and has plans for a chapter book that she hopes to publish sometime in the future.