Are twins, aged 5, world’s youngest published authors?

ADVENTURES OF GENDER NEUTRAL DINA RAISING CHARITY FUNDS

A PAIR of creative sisters from Hinckley could become the world’s youngest published authors.

Twins Suki and Sasha Link were just four years old when they started work on Dina the Unicorn and the Christmas Rainbow, a story which follows Dina on their adventure to find the lost Christmas rainbow, with help from friends.

The imaginative little girls, now five, are waiting to hear back from Guinness World Records to find out if they can claim the title of World’s Youngest Published Authors.

They wrote the colourful story while they were ill with chicken pox during Christmas 2019, after they got bored with television.

As their primary school, St Mary’s in Hinckley, was running a competition for children to write a story over the Christmas holidays, mum Jane typed up their work and printed it off so the twins could colour in some pictures and decorate it with glitter.

Suki and Sasha also helped staple the pages into a book, which won first prize in the school contest.

One of Jane’s friends, Sarah-Leigh Wills, is a children’s professional artist and illustrator, and said she was so taken with the story she made some illustrations for the book, to get it ready to be published.

The twins provided guidance and feedback on the colour and layout to make sure the book reflected their original vision for Dina.

Suki said: “It was really important that Sarah uses all our favourite colours and that Dina has purple hair. Purple is my favourite colour.”

“And I like mermaids and angels and the moon”, said Sasha.

The co-authors couldn’t agree on whether Dina was a girl or boy, so they have made Dina gender neutral in the story.

Kind-hearted Suki is determined that all profits from their literary debut should go to charity “to help other people because that’s really important. We can’t just think about ourselves all the time”.

Sasha said: “I love Christmas. I am going to write to Santa at church to ask he makes all the poorly people better this year.”

UK profits from sales of the book are to be divided equally between the British Heart Foundation, Macmillan Cancer Support and Dementia UK.

The young authors have set ambitious goals for the future, with Suki determined to become a ballet dancer, fairy or unicorn, while Sasha has set her sights on becoming a rainbow or a butterfly.

Mum Jane is a high achiever herself, as an ex-lecturer, Oxford graduate and having run a consultancy group, but she said she won’t be a pushy parent just urging the girls to achieve academically.

She said: “The girls love school and St Mary’s seems adept at inspiring them.

“But the girls equally enjoy a variety of activities including swimming, cheerleading, astronomy, flying kites, cooking and painting.

“Sasha is particularly taken with the violin at the moment and will spend ages sawing away at it, i m p rov i s i n g tunes and creating songs, or accompanying Vanessa Mae CDs.

“I’ve always felt truly blessed to be their mummy and believe my role includes nurturing robust values as well as providing opportunities for the girls to grow both experientially and spiritually; encouraging them to be kind and follow whatever they are truly passionate about to develop and grow a contented and happy soul rather than simply focusing on academic aspirations.

“I will be as equally proud and

I am going to write to Santa at church to ask he makes all the poorly people better this year

delighted if one of them becomes a nun, cleaner, doughnut maker, clerk, or a potter living in a wigwam, as I will if one of them becomes an Oxford don.”

Dina the Unicorn and the Christmas Rainbow is an early reader book for children up to the age of six. It includes interesting phonics for children to practise decoding, helping spark the imagination of early years children and their parents, teacher or guardian, as they follow the story.

Suki and Sasha have now completed their second book, Dina and Poomafanga in Space, which follows the two characters into space in a rocketship as they visit the planets of the solar system.

It will soon be available via ebook and paperback.

You can buy Dina the Unicorn and the Christmas Rainbow on Kindle for £2, with paperback copies available by searching on Amazon using the ISBN: 9798650173243.

You can find out more on the Dina the Unicorn Facebook page and website.

Sasha, pictured right, with Suki