Photo by Samantha Davis. Lilly Boelter, a Marshall High School senior, stands with her nine published children’s books. Boelter releases two books a year, and debuts them at local events.

MARSHALL — Sparking from an early childhood interest in art which only continued to grow stronger, Marshall High School senior Lilly Boelter embarked on a newfound passion of becoming a children’s book author. She currently has nine publications, with plans to create more.

“I’ve been doing art forever … I got into art shows when I was about 10 years old, and I would just show my drawings. I never really sold anything, I wasn’t really thinking about the business part of it. It was more of just, ‘Oh, I love showing people my art and sharing,'” Boelter said. “My aunt was having a baby … She was [asking for people] to bring a book, instead of a card [for baby gifts]. I couldn’t find a good enough book, so I was being an overachiever and made my own book.”

Boelter’s books surround the main character of Otto Orange, with different lessons and themes portrayed in each piece.

“These are really good for early independent reading … For little kids who are learning to read, and actually want to get into it,” Boelter said. “I think the illustrations are appealing enough to make a kid actually want to read this, but it has enough words and substance that they’ll actually gain skills from.”

Upon debuting her first book at an art show in seventh grade, Boelter was overwhelmed with the amount of immediate interest she experienced, which grew into an idea to continue the project.

“I made this book (Otto Orange and the Gloomy Garden), and I sold it at one of my shows. It sold out. I printed like 15 copies, and I didn’t think it would go anywhere … I was like, maybe I’ll just keep doing this,” Boelter said. “Then, my kindergarten teacher (Kelly Konietzko) found out about it and she encouraged me to keep going. Now, I read to her class, so it’s pretty fun.”

In full-circle moments, Boelter now gets opportunities to return to the classroom and read her books to local elementary classes.

Boelter aims to release two books a year. In particular, she debuts a new one at the YMCA Kindlmarkt each spring and winter.

From there, Boelter shares her books with the community at a handful of events and art shows throughout the year, including this year’s upcoming Crazy Days on Thursday.

“When I go to Brookings (S.D.) or something, and it’s people I don’t even know and they’re like, ‘These are so cool, I’ve seen you at other places,’ that’s so great,” Boelter said. “That’s when it actually feels so amazing about what I do.”

Boelter makes it a point to dedicate each of her books to someone important in her life like former teachers, family or friends, with a dedication page in the front.

Of her published books so far, Boelter has written about lessons like patience, persistence, responsibility, optimism, bravery, teamwork, curiosity and more.

Along with the writing, Boelter also illustrates the entire book herself on an Ipad with a drawing software, which she mentioned is her favorite part of the process. Once completed, she sends the pages to Western Print Group in Marshall to be professionally printed.

Boelter specifically mentioned Otto Orange Goes Camping and Kimberly Clementine Rocks Out as two of her personal favorites with their illustrations.

“The main purpose why I kept going with it … It was because I was like, ‘Wait, people actually want this and are interested in this.’ So, now with my books, the main purpose around our community is to just help everybody out. I’m actually looking at starting to do fundraisers or something with them,” Boelter said. “I really want to donate my books to the library … Also, I want to start reaching out to schools in the surrounding counties.”

When it comes to starting the process of a new book, Boelter takes idea inspirations from those around her or surrounding environments.

“I ask all my friends, and of course my kindergarten teacher (Konietzko), because she’s like my biggest supporter. I ask my family, other teachers, and I finally end up coming up with something,” Boelter said. “(It’s) a lot of collaboration. Or, like you’re sitting somewhere and you see something, and you’re like, ‘That’s what I should do,’ … Whenever I get the book and it’s in my hands, I’m like, ‘Wow, I actually did that.”

In the midst of regularly creating new books, Boelter also looks to remain heavily involved in other extracurricular activities heading into her final year of high school.

“I have many different (interests). I play bass guitar, and I’m very involved in that with my school. I do art still, besides this and writing children’s books. I do a lot of political science activities; I was just at (American Legion Auxiliary Minnesota) Girls State in the cities and I was a Page (an administrative leadership role),” Boelter said. “I’ve always done marching band, jazz band and winter percussion … I’m in Link Crew, I’m in Honors Society, and there’s more out there.”

From her first book, to her most recent, Otto Orange and the Science Experiment, and the rest in between, Boelter feels the most accomplished when she personally gets to see children engaging with her work.

“Those little kids, they’re so cute. They come to my shows and they’re like, ‘I know you,’ and they go and tell their friends that they know me. It’s so adorable,” Boelter said. “I just feel like I’m actually making an impact on them, and in our community especially. It’s so heartwarming to see.”