Second grader Charlie Liebenstein had a story to tell, so he wrote a book

Second grader Charlie Liebenstein at the Bruno M. Ponterio Ridge Street School said he loves to tell stories and read. Going to the library is one of his favorite activities. So, when he began to think he might like to write a book of his own, he was ready.

“I was thinking, and I thought about a chameleon and thought I could write a book about Charlie the Chameleon,” he said.

And that is just what Charlie the author did. 

In his book he tells the story of how Charlie the Chameleon is separated from his parents. This makes him sad, and he loses his colors, turning a depressing gray. As he embarks on a journey to find his parents, he meets several characters along the way, including a toucan, boa constrictor and a butterfly. Each of these colorful animals befriends the chameleon and helps him reconnect with his family. As Charlie goes along, his brilliant colors slowly return.

Charlie the author also loves art, and he drew a sketch on his iPad relating to his story. His mom, Hilary Liebenstein, took this as inspiration and illustrated the book. The last page of the book includes an illustration that Charlie drew himself.

“He loves telling stories and we love to read,” Ms. Liebenstein said of her son. “I always wanted to write a children’s book and never did, and I love art. I said we’d do this together and figure it out.”

Once Charlie had his story written, he worked with his mom on the illustrations. The two had the book self-published through Amazon Books.

Once the two had received copies of the book, Charlie took time to visit classrooms to read it to his friends. He also signed copies so he could pass them out to his classmates.

Among the classrooms he visited was his brother’s, Luke, who is in fifth grade. Charlie said his sibling was the inspiration behind the leopard character in his book.

“It was a little bit scary,” Charlie admitted when talking about reading his book aloud in the different classrooms. He said students had a lot of questions.

“Yeah!” Charlie responded when asked if he is planning to write another book. “I would like to write more books,” he stated, adding he’s bouncing around the idea of having Charlie the Chameleon find his lost brother.

When not busy writing or drawing, Charlie said he enjoys playing baseball, ice skating and playing with his stuffed animals.

At the moment, he said, he’s interested in becoming an author when he grows up.

“Charlie the Chameleon,” can be found for purchase on Amazon Books. A portion of proceeds from sales are being donated to the New York-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital.