Second graders throughout Webster County are now reading about the adventures of Chessie and JoJo.

One of those characters is a pig; the other is a chicken. They are the stars of the new children’s book ”Chessie and JoJo Make Their Way.” The decisions the animal duo make throughout the book demonstrate the values of passion, integrity, creativity and respect.

The book was written by Julie Hoesel and illustrated by Jennifer Dutcher. The two Fort Dodge women were brought into the book project by CJ Bio America, a manufacturer of amino acids added to feed for pigs and chickens. The company also makes liquid fertilizer at its plant west of Fort Dodge in the industrial park called Iowa’s Crossroads of Global Innovation.

So what is a maker of amino acids and fertilizer doing publishing a children’s book?

The company wanted a way to share its values — passion, integrity, creativity and respect — with the children of the area.

”They’re life principles,” Luke Palmer, the company’s senior operations manager, told The Messenger. ”And if we can help our community embody those more, than our chances of succeeding as a society together are just that much greater.”

The company brought Hoesel and Dutcher together, then had some 2,000 copies of their finished product printed. Books were distributed to every second-grader in the county. The company plans to hand out copies of the book every year.

The publication of this book may be unprecedented in the Fort Dodge area. When has a major local industry ever published and distributed an educational children’s book at its own expense?

That is what CJ Bio America has done, and that fact speaks volumes about the character of the company and its people.

We’re happy that this great corporate citizen, based in Seoul, South Korea, chose Webster County for its first North American production facility.