AN Oxfordshire boy has become one of the country’s youngest author to see his work in print.


Charlie Johns, from Letcombe Regis, near Wantage, wrote the book Bagpipe Island, at the tender age of 10.


The youngest published author in the UK is recorded as being nine years old.
The book, which was also illustrated by Charlie, tells the tale of battling bagpipes.


It follows a ship loaded with a cargo of bagpipes which gets wrecked on an uninhabited island, leading the bagpipes to emerge from their crates to colonise the island, splitting into two opposing camps.


Now aged 11, Charlie, who attends Abberley Hall School in Worcestershire, said the book was aimed at the nine-to-12 age group.


He said: “I have been writing short stories since I was seven.


“I was inspired to write this book by the poem The Bagpipe Who Didn’t Say No by Shel Silverstein, the American poet, illustrator and author.”


Bagpipe Island has now been published by Polperro Heritage Press and its success has led Charlie to aim to become a professional author when he leaves school.


The head of English at Abberley Hall School, Sally Duckham, said she believed the young writer could go far.

 

She said: “Charlie is a very talented chap with a great vocabulary and a huge sense of humour, who has a creative mind with a fertile imagination.


“I think he has a very good chance of becoming a professional writer when he’s older if he continues to work as hard as he does at the moment.”