For many adults, the idea of publishing a book is a lifelong dream but one Brampton boy has published three and he’s not even eight. Like most kids his age, Ayrison Ahilraj has many interests. “I like doing sports. I do Taekwondo and gymnastics.” But his real passion is writing. “I started writing when I was five.” It began when he wrote a children’s book without any intention for publication. Instead, it was to help his younger sister. “She couldn’t memorize her colours so I decided to write a book of colours for her.” He used the colours of vehicles on the road she would see and made a story about them to help her. It worked. So he thought, why not help other kids? He published that book, entitled “What’s on the Road?” and two more with the help of a hired illustrator. “I like to motivate other kids to write and read,” he said. But publishing has also helped Ayrison. Today, he’s anything but shy. That wasn’t the case in the beginning. “When it came to performing or talking to other children, he had stranger anxiety,” his mom, Thanuja said. “We thought we could break him out of that shell,” his father, Akil told CityNews. After publication, libraries and schools invited him to do public readings. “At first he would hide behind me at those public readings,” Thanuja said. “He then slowly started to enjoy reading and talking about his books and being more comfortable,” said Akil. “We thought he would never be able to do that.” Ayrison now reads in front of classes and even has author visits booked for the coming year. With two more books planned, he has no plans to stop. “I want to write a novel one day,” he told us. You can find this budding author and his books on Amazon. If you have an issue, story or question you’d like us to look into you can reach us here. See all Speakers Corner articles and videos here.