Like many 4-year-olds, before James Lahr of West Bend takes a nap, he insists his mother reads him his favorite book.
For James, the book is “James and Sonic.”
The story follows James and his friend Sonic going on an adventure to work together to save the entire city.
However, this book is different than any other children’s book: James, a childhood cancer survivor, wrote and illustrated the entire book.And on May 28 at Whitefish Bay High School, James and his family were treated to the night of James’ life: His book was set to music.
Professional composer Nick Bizub created music to go with the book, and the Whitefish Bay High School Wind Ensemble learned the song. The book and the illustrations were projected on a big screen while the original music told the story, said Thomas Gard, director of bands for the Whitefish Bay School District.
“This is a neat thing to experience in high school. Everyone put in a lot of work,” said senior clarinet player, Cooper Groff. “I know (James) fought hard to get through his sickness; giving him something like this is cool.”
“It is something (James) will remember for a long time,” Groff said.
How did this 4-year-old boy write a book?
The event that led to James writing “James and Sonic” occurred almost two years ago.
James was rushed to the emergency room with such extreme abdominal pain he could not stand, his mother said. He was then diagnosed with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma June 16, 2022. After months of hospital stays and surgeries, James finished his treatment and achieved remission in October 2022.
The nonprofit JR Hearts, which helped James’ family pay a significant amount of their hospital bills, partnered with Nashville-based nonprofit Sing Me a Story to make the May 28 event a reality.
Sing Me a Story, which serves “children and families in need through the imaginative stories of their children and the power of music,” according to its website, gave James a blank book where he could write and illustrate a story on anything he wanted.
‘He chose the story line and took off with it,’ said James’ mother
When James created the storyline for “James and Sonic,” the story just came naturally to him, said his mother Genessa Lahr. And some parts of it paralleled James’ life.
“He chose the storyline and took off with it,” she said.
Lahr said James told her the story, she asked him clarifying questions as they went along, and the story is “100% in James’ words.” James then drew the pictures for the story and “absolutely loved seeing the book come together,” said Lahr.
The book fittingly, said his mother, took place at a campsite because James loves camping in the family camper. James also has a younger sister in the book, like his younger sister, Jessica, in his real life.
The story follows James and his best friend Sonic on an adventure where they have to work together to save the entire city.
When James gets the emerald, which has all the power to do good things, from Dr. Robotonik, who tried to destroy the city, James was able to do “good moves,” James wrote in the story. He called James “Golden James” because he could fly and do “cool moves.”
But it is the ending that James wrote which really touched his mother: James shares the emerald with everyone so everyone has the power. “So that everyone can turn into the golden everyone.”
“He is all about helping everyone else,” Lahr said.
When the 8-minute life-changing performance ended, the crowd clapped and clapped while James waved. His mother said Kleenex was shared with her entire family.
He kept waving at people who walked by him when the concert was over and saying, “I am the Golden James.”
“I can’t believe it Mommy, I was the winner of the night,” he exclaimed to his mother on his way home.
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Cathy Kozlowicz can be reached at 262-361-9132 or cathy.kozlowicz@jrn.com. Follow her on X at @kozlowicz_cathy.
