Skip to main content

News and Knowledge

Frasier Cox, a boy with autism, recently won best overall bedtime story in the Our Bedtime Story Competition. The annual U.K. competition for children between the ages of 5 and 11 offers winners the opportunity to collaborate with an illustrator and have their book published.

Based on the 2017 theme of friendship, Frasier’s story, “There’s a Boy Just Like Me,” is a poem that explores a fictional friendship between a boy with autism and a refugee. Towards the end, the unlikely duo realize they have a lot in common, as the character with autism notes, “We’re strangers and each have a different life, he faces worry, and sadness, and strife. As humans we share an incredible link, and although we are different, I definitely think his family and people are misunderstood.”

“There’s a Boy Just Like Me” simplifies a complex issue so people of all ages can understand it. Frasier hopes the story will remind people that, despite being a refugee or having autism, everyone is human and deserves respect, love, and care. In a Sunday Express article, he says, “The way we treat refugees has lots of room for improvement. I want to help in every way I can. I felt that writing a story was a good way of expressing that.”

Christian O’Connell, one of the Competition judges, told the Bedtime Story Competition that Frasier “showed us what so many people and politicians forget, that we are all connected in this world. We have more in common than we think.” Another judge, Claudia Winkleman, told the Competition that this story “is incredibly touching and thought provoking and it’s absolutely remarkable a 9-year-old boy has written such a thoughtful story.”

Frasier told the Bedtime Story Competition that he is touched and honored to have his book published and “read by children all over the country.” Despite being on the market for less than a week, “There’s a Boy Just Like Me,” which is available to purchase, already has a five-star rating. Frasier is donating the proceeds from his book to Save The Children.

Although Frasier has touched the hearts of many, his journey hasn’t stopped yet. He is currently writing his second book, which is a story about Larry, a top mouser at Number 10 Downing Street.