This four-year-old Emirati boy is the world's youngest-ever author

Young Saeed Rashed al-Mheiri from Abu Dhabi became recognized as the youngest author in the world by Guinness World Records last month.

At only 4 years and 218 days of age, Saeed published his debut children's book, The Elephant Saeed and the Bear, which received its Guinness verification last month after it passed the 1,000 sales milestone in the UAE.

Saeed described his book as a story of kindness.

"It is about the elephant Saeed and a polar bear. The elephant had a picnic and he saw a polar bear," Saeed said, as quoted by Guinness. "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."

It runs in the family

Saeed was taught how to write by his mother and older sister, who herself held the Guinness records for the youngest female to publish a bilingual book and to publish a bilingual book series, with both records achieved before the age of nine.

Saeed said he was inspired by his sister. "I love my sister so much and I enjoy playing with her all the time," he told Guinness. 

"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."