JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A 6-year-old girl is one of Jacksonville’s newest authors after she wrote and published her first book.
Ari Smith is a first-grader at Biscayne Elementary School.
Her passion for writing started with reading books to her dad at bedtime.
Seven months after she told her parents about her new passion — her book “Ari & YoYo” was published.
“She was reading to me and she was like, ‘I want to write a book,’” her dad, Leonard Smith, explained. “And I was like, ‘Write a book? What are you talking about?’”
Ari then explained that she wanted to create a book with people who look like her, so her dad began writing down her ideas.
“I wrote this book because I wanted people to know you can do it if you put your mind to it,” Ari said. “And I wanted to see girls that look like me.”
Writing moved to formatting, and — despite a few bumps in the road — the book “Ari & YoYo” was complete. It’s about Ari’s adventures with her imaginary friend, YoYo.
“It’s about how I feel, and he will feel the same way,” Ari said. “If I’m sad, he’s going to be sad too. If I’m mad, he’s going to be mad too.”
Her mom, Briyana Smith, said Ari’s book promotes children and their imaginations and lets their imaginations run wild.
“Some kids have imaginary friends, so that’s why we made it just an imaginary friend instead of just another person, just so you can do whatever you want to do with an imaginary friend,” Briyana Smith said. “They feel the same way you feel.”
Ari encourages other young boys and girls to follow their dreams and passions.
She’s already working on publishing another book.
You can purchase a copy of ”Ari & YoYo” on Amazon.