A Grandmother Is Now a Published Author, Thanks to a Heartwarming Gift
“This is probably the nicest thing anybody’s ever done for me in my entire life,” Barbara Rieco says of her present
Barbara Rieco
One woman’s dream of becoming an author came true this holiday season.
In a TikTok post from Dec. 14, Chad Cooper, whose username is @moosbehavin, hands his grandmother Barbara Rieco a gift bag.
“It’s not a living, moving thing, is it?” Rieco asks hesitantly.
“I keep trying to convince them to get a dog, but they don't want any more living, breathing things in the house, I think, at this point in their life,” Cooper tells PEOPLE.
Instead of a furry friend, Rieco is given an even bigger surprise: a copy of a children’s book she wrote titled More! More! More!. Rieco authored the story in 1972 and spent 40 years trying to get it published. It kept getting rejected until Cooper took action.
“When I was six, seven, eight years old, I remember her showing me this book and talking about the book and it was just an ongoing thing for many, many years,” he says. “And I eventually was helping her with her computer one day and saw the file on her desktop, and I just thought in the moment, ‘This might be a really great opportunity for a gift.’ I emailed it to myself and the rest is history.”
Cooper, who works in production and design, self-published the book. His grandmother collaborated with illustrator Yuri Moyashi to bring the story to life.
In the video, which currently has over 4 million views and 800,000 likes, Rieco is overcome with emotion as she flips through the book.
moosbehavin/Tiktok
"I just thought in the moment, ‘This might be a really great opportunity for a gift,'" Rieco's grandson Cooper says“This is probably the nicest thing anybody’s ever done for me in my entire life,” she says. “In my entire life, this is the nicest thing.”
More! More! More! follows Prissy Miss, who is befriended by a girl who teaches her the importance of gratitude and the power of make-believe, according to the book’s description. It is also based on experiences from Rieco’s life.
“My grandmother grew up in a very middle class family and had really never seen much outside of her family, like their small town in Philadelphia,” Cooper says. “She was working at a Project Head Start, I believe, and really seeing poverty, at the time.”
Barbara Rieco
'More! More! More!' by Barbara RiecoCooper says his grandmother was deeply affected by that experience.
“She ended up having to go to the doctor for it because all she wanted to do was help these people and she couldn't figure out how,” he says. “This is just her way of doing it.”
TikTok users have been glowing about the book — and Cooper's thoughtful gift — in the video’s comment section.
“This is so sweet! We should have this at our local library. Luckily I know the person in charge of ordering books [it’s me. I’m the person],” one user wrote.
“I'm not crying at work, you are,” wrote another.
The author is similarly ecstatic about the book's reception, especially after all these years.
“She didn't realize I was even recording the video, or was going to post it, or anybody was going to see it,” Cooper says. “She's breaking up about everybody seeing her. But at the same time, she is so unbelievably over the moon, and so thankful, and so just filled with probably the most joy she's ever had in her life at this point.”
moosbehavin/Tiktok
“This is probably the nicest thing anybody’s ever done for me in my entire life,” Rieco says in the videoNever miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Cooper says they have sold “several hundred copies” of More! More! More! less than a month after posting the video (the book is also available to purchase on moremoremore.net).
On the heels of its success, he has plans for an audiobook and a hardcover edition as well. His grandmother, for her part, has other projects in mind for the future.
“She's written several other things as well that she had tried to publish, and I think it's definitely time to start diving into those kinds of things,” he says. “But more than anything, I think this whole thing has been so inspiring for both of us. Right now, we're trying to figure out [how] to help other people accomplish their dreams.”
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