At the age of five, a British girl who published a book has officially broken the Guinness World Record for the world’s youngest published author. Bella J. Dark received official confirmation from Guinness this week after selling over 2,000 copies.
Last year, the young girl from Weymouth, Dorset, surprised her family by announcing her intention to write a book.
Her mother and father, a chef and a plasterer, dismissed it as “one of those things,” as children say. They are, however, “extremely proud” of Bella for turning her dream into a reality with her book, The Lost Cat.
According to an email from Guinness World Records: “We are thrilled to inform you that your application for the youngest female to publish a book has been successful and Bella is now the Guinness World Records Title Holder. You are now eligible for one complimentary Guinness World Records certificate. Congratulations, you are officially amazing!”
“I just want to say thank you to everyone who has bought my book so far!” said youngest author, Bella.
Snowy, a feline in her story, goes on adventures and soon learns an important lesson.
The book was published by Ginger Fyre Press and is available for purchase in paperback or Kindle format on Amazon and other retailers.
“We are just so proud of Bella and honestly can’t believe how amazing this is,” said Bella’s mother, Chelsie Syme.
“She has always thrived off positivity from people and just loves reading and drawing.” It all started when she went to her mother one day and said she was going to write a book. “I thought it would just be some scribble and you would say ‘wow’ like you do as a parent.”
They then went to a book fair, where someone expressed interest in publishing it.
It’s about a cat who gets lost and realizes she shouldn’t go out without her mother, so Chelsie appreciated the safety message. She illustrated it with her own drawings, with the exception of one by her older sister Lacey-May.
Bella-Jay already has her sights set on more books, with Snowy’s Birthday Party, her follow-up, already in the works.
She set a new world record, surpassing Abhijita Gupta, who was named the world’s youngest published author at the age of seven last year.