Four-year-old becomes the world's youngest ever author

A four-year-old boy has become the world’s youngest published author and has even earned himself a Guinness World Record in the process.

Saeed Rashed AlMheiri, from Abu Dhabi, is the proud author of the children’s book The Elephant Saeed and the Bear, which is a story about kindness and an unexpected friendship between the two animals.

Saeed had his record verified on March 9 2023 after his book sold 1,000 copies - at four-years-and-218-days old he is the youngest published author in the world.

Speaking to Guinness World Records about his book, the youngster said: “It is about the elephant Saeed and a polar bear. The elephant had a picnic and he saw a polar bear.

Guinness World Record

"He thought the bear was going to eat him but, in the end, the elephant showed kindness and said ‘let’s have a picnic together’! Then they became friends and showed kindness to each other.” Ah, how sweet is that?

But it wasn’t without its challenges, as Saeed admitted: "The drawing was tricky and the polar bear looked scary at first, but it’s always fun to draw.”

Believe it or not, little Saeed is not the only record breaking author in his family. His older sister AlDhabi used to hold the record for the world’s youngest person to publish a bilingual book (female) and, less a year later, she went on to break the record for youngest person to publish a bilingual book series (female) at the age of just eight-years-and-239-days old. These kids are really putting me to shame.

Saeed says his older sister was an inspiration to him and helped spur him on to becoming an author himself at such a young age.

“I love my sister so much and I enjoy playing with her all the time,” he told Guinness World Records.

Guinness World Record

“We read, write, draw and do so many activities together. I wrote my book [inspired by her] as I felt that I could have my own book too.”

As you can imagine, having not one, but two tiny published authors in the family has left their parents beaming with pride.

They told Guinness World Records: “AlDhabi is an inspirational young lady and Saeed followed her footsteps. He is the proof that everybody is born with a talent and that talent cannot be known unless they discover it by trying things out.”

I reckon these two are ones to watch out for in the future!

Topics: World News, Guinness World Records

Claire Reid

Claire is a journalist at UNILAD who, after dossing around for a few years, went to Liverpool John Moores University. She graduated with a degree in Journalism and a whole load of debt. When not writing words in exchange for money she is usually at home watching serial killer documentaries surrounded by cats.