LOUDONVILLE, Ohio — An Ashland County 7-year-old can now add author to his resume. When Peter Heath released his first book in early May, it debuted atop one of Amazon’s bestseller lists. It was a dream accomplishment for the Loudonville second grader.
“I wanted to write the book because I’ve wanted to be an author for a long time,” said Peter.
In the week since it was published, “The Adventures of Marshmallow and Peter” has sold more than 500 copies. The stack of books the Heath family brought to a book signing at the Loudonville Public Library Friday ran out in less than 2 hours.
Readers are eager to dig into the story about Peter and the other title character: Marshmallow.
“Hi! My name is Marshmallow. I am a white cane. I have a boy named Peter, and I go everywhere he goes,” the book begins.
“The tip looks like a marshmallow,” Peter explained about the cane’s name.
Marshmallow, a white probing cane with a rolling tip, has helped Peter navigate the world and shared his adventures since he lost his vision. His blindness was caused by Batten Disease, a rare degenerative nervous system disorder.
Peter’s book signing on Friday was intentionally scheduled for the one-year anniversary of his diagnosis.
“It was hard,” Peter’s mother, Beth Heath, said of May 12, 2022. “But it’s been amazing to see the community come out and support him and make today something to celebrate and not be sad about.”
There is no cure or effective treatment for the symptoms of Batten disease, but Peter’s challenges have led the family to expand their support network.
Aid Sharon Syler has been working with Peter for several years. She’s watched the disease rob his vision but also witnessed the 7-year-old’s tenacity.
“He’s great to work with. He’s just unstoppable,” Syler said. “We just want people to be aware that just because kids with disabilities may have visual delays or other learning disabilities, they can still do great things.”
Syler has been learning braille along with Peter, with the help of Abbie Radtka, Peter’s teacher for the visually impaired.
“His parents have been wonderful. Just because you have [a child who is] differently abled doesn’t mean that you can’t. ‘Can’t’ has never ever been in their vocabulary for him,” Radtka said. “For as long as he can, we will. And that’s just how we approach everything.”
Radtka was the one who put the Heaths in touch with a friend, Rebecca Yee-Peters, who runs a publishing business. Yee-Peters said she was eager to publish Peter’s book.
“I just want people to know that children or people with disabilities are not different from other people. They love, and they learn, and they laugh just like everybody else,” she said. “The more people who understand that, the more compassion we can have.”
Peter wrote the entire story with minimal guidance from his parents and teachers and editing from his publisher. He signed each copy Friday with a rubber stamp of his first-grade signature and a braille sticker that said “Love, Peter.”
Though his family knows the future is uncertain, they’re relishing Peter’s accomplishments.
“Even though things are different for him, he has courage every day, and he gets up and does all the things he wants to do,” said Joe Heath, Peter’s father.
As for Peter’s next move, he plans to continue writing new books in “The Adventures of Marshmallow and Peter” series. He’s already working on an edition based on his recent trip to Disney World.
“The Adventures of Marshmallow and Peter” is available for purchase at Barnes and Noble and online on Amazon. Click here for more information.
Half of the proceeds of Peter’s book will go to the Batten Disease Support and Research Association Foundation.
Watch live and local news any time:
Download the News 5 Cleveland app now for more stories from us, plus alerts on major news, the latest weather forecast, traffic information and much more. Download now on your Apple device here, and your Android device here.
You can also catch News 5 Cleveland on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, YouTube TV, DIRECTV NOW, Hulu Live and more. We're also on Amazon Alexa devices. Learn more about our streaming options here.
