Local Author Writes Book For Children About A Special Fire Truck
by Alex Lloyd Gross
Cheryl Schoell is the daughter of former Fire Chief Herb Schoell. Herbie, as he was known, joined the Newportville Fire Company when he was 15. He served until his death in 2022. During that time, he spent 20 years off and on as the chief. His daughter a children’s educator wanted to honor him so she wrote a book for children.
“It’s called Herbie the Big Brave Fire Truck and it’s a really cute story.” Schoell said. Not to give too much away but Herbie is a firetruck who is bored with nothing to do. He sits at the firehouse waiting for a fire to put out. Suddenly, a big fire happens in town and Herbie realizes there is a water supply problem. There is no water so Herbie has to find water and bring it to the fire.
“The book is for children and for those that can read a little bit, it’s a fun book”, Schoell said. She has been teaching early childhood for 30 years in and around Bristol Township. Before children can read words, they have to be able to recognize letters. Before they can add 2+2, they have know what 2 is. Smaller children will adore the illustration in the book. They were done by Moch Fajar Shobaru.
“This is a great way to honor my dad, I have been wanting to do this for a while. I researched on You Tube how to self publish and hopefully people will like it,” Schoell said.
At the scene of the fire, in the book, the fire chief has a 12 on his helmet, which is a little “Easter Egg” that she put in the book to honor her father. People can buy the book on Amazon, but better yet, at her father’s old Firehouse, at 2425 Newportville Road there will be a car show/open house on September 28, 2025. She will have her books there and people can buy it with no shipping. Cheryl said it would be her privilege to autograph it for people.
If this does well, she might write more books about Herbie, “A Christmas parade would be nice,” Schoell said.