At 9, Nidhi Prakash set to launch her own book

Bangalore’s youngest author at nine years, Nidhi Prakash (see picture) is set to launch her book on Saturday. 

Nidhi, a 5th standard student of Bangalore’s Bishop Cotton Girls’ School, started writing the book Animation World when she was eight years old.

The 50-page book, published by Goa-based CinnamonTeal Publishing, will be officially launched at the Easy Library in Koramangala on Saturday.

Animation World is about 10-year-olds Annie and Sarah who see a number of shooting stars as they walk near the woods. Both enter the woods to see the stars  disappearing into a mysterious blue portal.

Do they jump into the portal? What do they find at the end of the portal? Will they ever be able to come back home or will they be stuck there for eternity? To find out one has to read the book.

What motivated Nidhi to write this book? “My cousin Sona wrote a book, A Slip in the Summer. Sona’s hard work motivated me to write this book,” Nidhi said with a smile.

She claimed that it took her a week to write Animation World. She thanked her English teacher Priscilla for going through the draft and making necessary corrections. “I am grateful to Insha Ummehani, the art faculty at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Bangalore, for illustrating the book. I also thank my class teacher Priscilla for helping me write this book.”

She acknowledged the support of her parents and sister. Her father K Prakash is director, postal services department, and mother Durga Rani Prakash is the GM, BSNL, Bangalore.

Nidhi’s favourite author is Mary Pope Osborne. “My second book Old Creek Mansion will be published shortly... I am working on my third book. It’s about a girl living in Korea,” she said.

Nidhi is fond of story books and wants to pursue writing as a hobby. But she wants to become a civil servant. “I want to become a deputy commissioner to serve the people.”