9-year-old author Brian Kan continues ‘The Tale of Tom the Turtle’ with sequel about how to deal with bullying
The American School student says he wants to create meaningful stories from a kid’s point of view
A 9-year-old author has published the second volume in his series of picture books that revolve around Tom the Turtle and his marine friends.
Brian Kan, from American School Hong Kong, wrote The Tale of Tom the Turtle - A School of Fish after he was inspired by news stories on school bullying. He published The Tale of Tom the Turtle in 2017, which dealt with environmental topics like plastic pollution in oceans; both books were entirely written and illustrated by Brian, and proceeds from the first book went the charity Greenpeace.
While it certainly takes intelligence and guts to start writing at such a young age, writing isn’t without obstacles for Brian.
8-year-old author Brian Kan wants to change the world with his Tale of Tom the Turtle
“My least favourite part is the editing and revising, although it is necessary and help to polish the piece of work for better...it seems the process will never end, every time I revise and edit, I discover it can be better in another way, always have better ways and it never ends until the printing deadline.”
Brian admits that writing the second adventure of Tom the Turtle was slightly easier because he has more experience than before; this time, the story focuses on Tom the Turtle moving schools, and how he deals with bullying and making new friends.
10 LGBT children’s books removed to the closed section of Hong Kong Public Libraries
The proceeds for the book will go to supporting UNICEF and its youth-related programmes.
Despite his literary accomplishments, Brian remains committed to his initial goal.
“I wish to create meaningful stories from kids’ points of view. When growing up, we can all be faced with experiences that challenge us. How we deal with these new experiences is crucial! I wish to share those life experiences and positive messages with my readers from kids’ points of view, like “kids for kids”.