What started as a holiday doodle at the kids’ table turned into an internet sensation, and a surprisingly wholesome lesson.
Most parents expect their kids to come away from family gatherings with sticky fingers, half-finished crafts, or maybe a sugar crash. Keith Haskel and Bethany Hall came away with something else entirely: a fully illustrated book written by their 6-year-old daughter, about a kid who drinks wine, gets drunk, and immediately regrets it.
The book, innocently titled The Kid Who Drank Wine, was never meant for public consumption. But after one Instagram post, it became a viral hit that had parents across the internet laughing, sharing, and asking the same question: Can you publish this?
A Holiday Visit, a Kids’ Table, and an Unexpected Bestseller
The story began during a holiday visit with family in Montclair, New Jersey. While the adults chatted over glasses of wine, Scout, 6, sat at the kids’ table drawing and writing on her own.
“Scout would just come over and say, ‘How do you spell the word wine? How do you spell party? How do you spell this?’” her dad Keith told PEOPLE.
Neither parent thought much of it, until Scout walked over with a completed book in her hands.
“She came over with a fully finished book,” Keith said, emphasizing that none of the adults guided the content. “Nobody put the words in her mouth.”
The family read it together and immediately burst out laughing.
The Plot: Short, Sweet, and Shockingly Effective
The Kid Who Drank Wine is only a few pages long, complete with Scout’s original drawings and charmingly imperfect spelling. The story follows a little girl, also named Scout, whose mother tells her not to drink wine.
Naturally, the rule is ignored.
“Out to dinner she drunk wine,” Scout wrote. “And she got DRUNK.”
By the final page, the consequences are clear.
“I don’t feel good, Mommy.”
As funny as the premise sounds, the book ends up being a cautionary tale rather than a celebration. That’s what surprised Keith the most.
“Yes, it was a little inappropriate,” he said, “but it actually had a good moral.”
Comedy Runs in the Family, But This Was All Her
Scout’s parents are no strangers to comedy. Keith is a comedy director and producer, and Bethany is a comedian and comedy producer herself. Still, they insist their daughter’s story came entirely from her own imagination.
“She wrote an instant bestseller in two hours!” Bethany joked.
Bethany suspects Scout was influenced simply by observing adults drinking wine during the holidays. Scout, however, has her own explanation.
“I think someone mentioned when I drank a little bit of coffee,” Scout said. “And then I wanted to make a book about a kid drinking wine.”
In other words, classic kid logic.
From Family Joke to Viral Hit
For a few days, the book stayed within the family. But Bethany couldn’t stop thinking about it. One evening after work, she asked Keith to film her reading the story aloud, just for fun.
She performed it like a story-hour reading, page by page, letting Scout’s words speak for themselves. The couple posted the video to Instagram on Jan. 5 without much expectation.
Then the views started climbing.
Fast.
The video racked up hundreds of thousands of views, spreading far beyond their circle of friends.
“A Little Piece of Joy” the Internet Didn’t Know It Needed
The family usually keeps their kids off social media, which made the decision to post the video a thoughtful one.
“We don’t normally showcase our kids,” Bethany said. “But it made me laugh so hard and my family laughed so hard that I just felt like this is a little piece of joy.”
She assumed only close friends would see it. Instead, the comments filled up with strangers thanking them for the laugh.
“You can tell from the comments that it just brightened people’s days,” Bethany said.
Keith noticed another recurring theme.
“Everyone’s like, ‘Can you publish it?’” he said. “I don’t know if we ever will, but it’s funny that people seem to find it relatable and love it.”
The Start of a Literary Universe?
Scout didn’t stop with wine.
Since her viral debut, she’s already written two follow-up titles: The Kid Who Drank Coffee and The Kid Who Drank Beer, both continuing her accidental brand of cautionary tales about kids consuming adult beverages.
“It’s definitely her own brand that she’s developing and franchising, perhaps,” Keith joked.
Scout isn’t the only creative kid in the household. Her siblings, Xander, 8, and Phoebe, 4, also enjoy writing and drawing, making creativity a regular part of family life.
Unexpected Connections and a Sweet Takeaway
Beyond the laughs, Bethany says the response led to something unexpected: reconnections.
People from her past, including former classmates and members of her church, reached out after seeing the video.
“Somebody from my church was like, ‘We had no idea Scout was such a writer,’” she said.
For a family immersed in comedy, the reaction struck a deeper chord.
“At the risk of sounding too corny,” Bethany added, “I’m so pleased that we were able to share this little piece of fun and hilarity and kid shenanigans with people that really struck a chord.”
A Reminder of Why the Internet Can Still Be Fun
In a digital world often dominated by outrage and exhaustion, Scout’s tiny picture book landed as something refreshingly different, a reminder of how kids observe the world, remix it through their imaginations, and sometimes stumble into brilliance by accident.
No publishing deal (yet), no forced fame, and no stage parents pushing a brand, just a 6-year-old, a stack of paper, and a story that made people laugh.
Not bad for a first author.
Featured Image from Facebook: Christabel Shedrach