Author Holds Celebration In Honor Of Critically Ill Children

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- An author is holding a weeklong celebration in which she's hailing critically ill children as heroes.

Carole Amber, who penned the book "The Gift of the LadyBug," is partnering with children's hospitals, hospices and fundraising organizations to spread the word of the book while offering a free Kindle download of her work. She's also hand-delivering her book to 500 sick children in New York City, Boston, Philadelphia, and Houston. The celebration runs from Sunday through Friday.

"I'm hoping that people will read the book and know that they are perfect just as they are," she told CBS 2's Cindy Hsu during an in-studio interview Sunday morning. "No matter what they have going, they are perfect."

LINK: More info on 'The Gift of the LadyBug'

Amber said she was inspired to write the book by her son, T.J., who died five years ago at 14 months old.

"Basically, we were sent home with this healthy baby boy, and he was, so far as we knew, healthy for a good six months, and then things kind of deteriorated," she said. "At 8 months, the doctor said, 'Your son, T.J., probably won't see his second birthday. At that point, literally on the way home from that conversation, I had this inspiration of 'The Gift of the LadyBug.' It's inspired by his wisdom and his brilliance. He always had these peaceful eyes that were just like, 'I'm OK, Mommy. I'm OK.'"

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