Pretoria - He may only be 9 years old, but Orinea Gidi from Centurion is already making a name for himself as an author.
The quiet and talented pupil of Springvale Primary School has just published his first book, Adventure With The Boys.
This is clearly the first of many to come; ever since Orinea was able to read, he could not put a book down.
His Adventure With The Boys, promises to be a good read for anyone from the age of 6, the little words whizz told the congregation of the Higher Grace Church International during a service where he was celebrated for his talents.
He does not only have a love for reading and writing, but he also has a talent for drawing, according to his proud mother Musiiwa Gidi.
She and her husband, Norman Gidi, are very proud of their first-born son – the middle child – who started writing his first book at the age of 8 and completed it a few months later, soon after he had turned 9.
Orinea said he was motivated to write his first book after he had read a number of books, including The 65-Story Treehouse by Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton, as well as Middle School by James Patterson.
His book is about boys in the wild and their adventures. His mother said it came as no surprise because he loved nature.
Musiiwa said she always knew her son was destined for greater things when, as a little boy who had just started to read, he asked her during a shopping trip to buy him a book.
“It was not any book; it was one which consisted of 200 pages.”
Orinea could not put the book down and he was soon finished with it, asking for yet another book.
He started his love for writing by citing verses of the Bible on paper. His mother said eventually there was paper all over the house with Bible verses.
He asked his parents all the time how to spell difficult words, which they wrote down for him and which he then copied.
The parents were at first not sure why their son needed to know the spelling of certain words, but they did not give it much thought, as he was always writing things on paper.
Later became clear, when he told them he was writing a book.
Musiiwa said it took her son three months to complete the book, which consists of 11 chapters.
“I actually only became aware that he was writing a book when the first chapter was done and he asked me to read it.
“I told him I wanted to read the book only after it was completed, so as not to spoil the excitement.
“When the 11th chapter was completed, we – mother father and older sister – got to read the book.”
“We realised that this book cannot just be part of the family, but it should be shared with everyone.
“He did not at first believe it when his father said that we can publish the book,” Musiiwa said.
She added that as parents, they assisted with the spelling and grammar before it was sent off to Enoch Publishers.
While this is Orinea’s first book, his parents said they were looking forward to many more books written by him.
The book was launched last week. What makes it even more special is that all the illustrations in the book were done by Orinea himself.
His mother said they didn’t take the credit for their son’s achievement.
“We believe God gave him the talent, as we don’t recall any writers from our families’ side.”
To order the book, email Musiiwa.gidi@yahoo.com.
Pretoria News