Students of the Week Write Book

JACKSONVILLE, FL -- Not many kids can say they have written and published their own book; and they're using the proceeds to help other kids. Our Students of the Week are two brothers who wrote 'Jacksonville from A to Z.'

The book covers every letter in the alphabet while telling the story about Jacksonville.

The two brothers attend Riverside Presbyterian Day School. Peyton and Jamie Surface wrote and published the book with the help of their mom. "It started as a family game that we would play in the car. On one rainy day we decided to put our master list together and create this book," said Heather Surface.

Peyton is in 2nd grade at RPDS and worked on the letters 'A' 'B' and 'Z'. Here's a look at what he wrote for the letter 'A'. 'A stands for Andrew Jackson who gave our town its name. Our nation's seventh president is what he soon became. A also stands for alligators that come alive at night. They cruise along the river, but they seldom bite.'

Peyton said he enjoyed working on the book. "We got to do it as a family and we came up with the rhyming and it was a lot of fun."

His older brother Jamie is in 5th grade. He worked on a lot of the other letters. Two of his favorites 'G' and 'O.' Here's what he wrote for 'O.' 'O is for our ocean that gives us boundless joy. An early morning shark's tooth hunt is something we enjoy. O also stands for live oaks which seem to touch the sky. A visit to the Treaty Oak will quickly show you why.'

The colorful illustrations in the book were created by patients from Wolfson Children's Hospital and Nemours Children's Clinic through the Art with a Heart program.

"I thought they were amazing especially the letter 'K.' He was 4 years old and drew this picture," said Jamie pointing to the page with the letter K.

It took a lot of time and effort to put together, but both boys realize they've created something really special.

"It felt good. All the people at the hospital did all these pictures and I thought that's really good," said Peyton.

More than half the proceeds from the book will go to Art with a Heart at Wolfson Children's Hospital and Nemours Children's Clinic and other children's charities.

"I can't believe we finally wrote a book. I thought we were going to give it to our families. I never knew it was going to lead to a great project," said Jamie.

'Jacksonville from A to Z' is being sold in about 40 stores around Jacksonville. 1500 copies have been sold so far.

Click here to find out more information about the book.

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