As a kid I filled exercise book after exercise book with stories, that on occasion impressed my teachers, but being a published author, or indeed any form of writing for a living, was never an option when it came to discussing my future with the careers officer, whose imagination ran the full gamut of job options from road sweeper to sweeper of roads to highway hygienist, with the promise of one day owning my own broom.
Aayushi Yogeswaran, a seven-year-old from Malaysia, has made history by becoming the nation’s youngest author with her debut book, “Unicorn and Little Amanda”.
This remarkable achievement was celebrated at the Raja Tun Uda Library in Shah Alam, with Taman Sentosa Assemblyman Dr. Gunaraj George in attendance, reports Sinar Daily.
“Unicorn and Little Amanda” takes young readers on a magical journey to Mushroom Land, where Little Amanda and her unicorn companion explore whimsical worlds, play among the clouds, and discover the beauty of rainbows. The book, rich with themes of magic, friendship, and joy, is apparently designed to captivate both children and adults alike.
Before her sixth birthday Aayushi had read over 1,600 books, a number that has since grown to over 4,000.
Th child has written four more books, all set to be published soon.
Aayushi’s remarkable talent was recognised with the Top-5 National Stars Achiever Award 2024 in the Youngest Book Author category from Kids Got Talent Malaysia.
TNPS regulars will know Aayushi is far from the youngest published author worldwide, and I often feature young published authors here.
But while it sees more common nowadays than, say, a decade ago, a claimant to the world record for youngest author emerged way back in 1960, when Dorothy Straight wrote “How the World Began”, which was published when she was six years old in 1964. She is often cited as one of the youngest published authors in history.
A lot of factors contribute to children being able to write publishable material at these young age.
As a kid I filled exercise book after exercise book with stories, that on occasion impressed my teachers, but being a published author, or indeed any form of writing for a living, was never an option when it came to discussing my future with the careers officer, whose imagination ran the full gamut of job options from road sweeper to sweeper of roads to highway hygienist, with the promise of one day owning my own broom.
Somehow I doubt much has changed in the UK. And with reading for pleasure in freefall in the UK as the synthetic phonics chickens come home to roost, so fewer and fewer little children are even reading, let alone writing for fun.
But it’s wonderful to see young and talented authors being given the chance to be published elsewhere around the world.
This post first appeared in the TNPS LinkedIn newsfeed,
