Bryan Patrick, a 4-year-old from New Bern, North Carolina, recently completed writing his first book with the hopes of becoming the world’s youngest author as recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records. His journey to this achievement is a remarkable one, starting with his unique fascination with letters and words. Bryan’s parents, both educators, Eleanor and Ervin Patrick, first noticed his obsession with the alphabet when he was able to spell complex words like “axolotl.”
His love for letters soon became a central theme in all aspects of his life, from family trips to the Alphabet Museum to themed birthday parties where he dressed up as a superhero of his favorite letter, ‘B.’ With the help of his parents, Bryan even created an alphabet garden in their backyard, where each letter corresponds to a different plant. Eleanor mentioned that none of this was planned, but rather a reflection of Bryan’s ideas that they wholeheartedly supported.
Despite still being in preschool, Bryan has already mastered skills that are typically expected of older children. Eleanor highlighted his reading fluency, knowledge of letter sounds, ability to count, and even skills in multiplication and division usually taught in third grade. His parents have been amazed by his ability to self-teach and guide his own learning process, with Bryan typing out the alphabet every night on the computer until he eventually completed a full book in just one month.
Bryan’s family is now hosting a book launch party in New Bern to help him achieve his goal of selling 1,000 copies of his book, which is required to become the world’s youngest author according to Guinness World Records. Despite facing competition from another four-year-old author, Bryan is determined to break the record, and his family is fully supportive of his accomplishments and creative endeavors.