Jotting down ideas in notebooks is this 12-year-old writer’s secret
Just before nap time, Anika Ann Anil conjures and shuffles random ideas for future stories and poems. Later, on waking up, she jots down those snippets in her treasured notebooks. This has been her routine since she was six. Little did her parents know that these ‘snippets’ would eventually evolve into a full-fledged book and their daughter, a published author.
The 12-year-old recently released her first book, The Magic in Poems and Stories. It is a compilation of all her works thus far.
As with every writer, Anil’s yearning to become a writer stems from her habits of reading. An admirer of the Harry Potter series, she chose to read books when most kids her age preferred screen time.
“Anil has always been an avid reader. Even when she was young, she had a curious mind and often asked a lot of questions. Perhaps she found a way to figure out the answers on her own through reading,” says Lizabeth Abraham, her mother.
Among her favourite authors, Sudha Murthy and Ruskin Bond top the list. “Their stories are innately funny and at the same time, very thoughtful,” Anil remarks.
The youngster credits her parents for instilling a love for reading in her. “They are my source of motivation. They encouraged me to write and sometimes, gave me suggestions to improve my work as well. But they never pushed me to incorporate any of them. They wanted my writing to be authentic. This way, I felt that I had the room to make mistakes and grow,” she says.
Inspired by her daughter’s inclination to reading and writing, Abraham, who runs a Montessori preschool, has incorporated reading as part of the children’s class time routine.
“I have noticed how reading makes these children more and more curious about their surroundings and the world. I have hence bought more books for these children,” she says.
Apart from reading and writing, Anil loves dancing as well.
When asked if she wanted to pursue a career in English literature in the future, the young author says in a confident tone, “I want to be a voice-over artist too, but mostly an author.”
Ten-year-old bibliophile turns author with The Dancing River
Ages passed and strangers arrived, different in wisdom and virtue. Along, they brought a new queen, born to rule.
So goes a prophecy in The Dancing River, a book written by Thanusree Shyamkumar, which follows the adventurous journey of a trio who move mountains to reach their destination.
Perhaps it’s a metaphorical nod to the writer’s own journey in the world of literature. Though only 10, Thanusree has read hundreds of books in all genres. For this Malayali residing in Dubai, the love affair with books began at the age of three.
“Even when she was a toddler, she used to listen very keenly to the stories we read her. Now, she can read and write on her own. But the same fascination for stories remains,” says Shyamkumar, Thanusree’s father.
From Rudyard Kipling’s Jungle Book and Jules Verne’s Around the World in 80 Days, the youngster’s interests have graduated to timeless classics in English literature, namely The Scarlet Letter, David Copperfield, and Frankenstein among others. These gems now deck up her personal library.
Thanusree is now experimenting with different genres. Her latest is non-fiction, especially those books on influential people in science and politics.
“Mahatma Gandhi, Subash Chandra Bose, Lal Bahadur Shastri, A P J Abdul Kalam, Ratan Tata… you can ask her about any influential person,” her father says proudly.
“I love reading about Indian history, our freedom struggle and the heroes who pioneered and steered it,” says Thanusree, who has read over 500 books and is a frequent visitor to a nearby library.
The youngster’s journey as a bibliophile began during the Covid lockdown.
“I couldn’t play outside or meet my friends during that time. I was bored. That’s when my father brought some books from the library. Then, the Amar Chitra Katha comics were my first pick,” she recollects.
Thanusree’s interests are not limited to books alone. She is also an enthusiast of martial arts and Carnatic music. What’s even more astounding is that this youngster knows five languages, including Sanskrit, for which she takes lessons from a tutor.
Although Thanusree has marked her expertise in writing, she wants to pursue a career as a scientist. She has also successfully cleared several levels in various Olympiads.
“I want to be a scientist. But, I want to write too. Hopefully many, many books,” Thanusree says, her small eyes gleaming with hope.