Dyslexic Hemel Hempstead schoolboy's first book reaches Amazon best seller status

A schoolboy from Hemel Hempstead has been celebrating after his first book reached Amazon best seller status last week.

Nine-year-old Harry Bevan, who is dyslexic, recently became a published author and his book, The Magical Quests, reached the top 100 for his category last week - making it an Amazon best seller in that category.

Harry, who attends Potten End School, wrote his book to prove to himself and other neurodiverse children that dyslexia is not something to suffer from, learning to live with it and using your dyslexic mind means that you can achieve whatever you want.

The Magical Quests is available on Amazon and for every book sold before Christmas Day, the family will donate £1 to Made by Dyslexia who educate people on the brilliance of the dyslexic mind.

He said: "It's really, really, really cool to publish a book and reach Amazon best seller status.

"It is because we figured out just because you are dyslexic doesn't mean you can't do things like this, I knew I could so I just worked hard and did it.

"I wanted to prove that dyslexia does not take something away from you, you're just a bit different and that's ok.

"The story is about these friends that go to school and they are late and they have to get over a gate and they notice lots or weird things are happening and the children are gone.

"I am thinking of writing another one, I really enjoyed doing it."

Harry's mum Lisa said: "Harry’s book The Magical Quests also reached Amazon best seller status this week, which is pretty amazing as within his category JK Rowling’s Harry Potter books hold the top 13 most popular books.

"He doesn't actually enjoy writing but he spent 15 minutes a day doing it.

"This is something he has always wanted to do. After lockdown, the schools had staggered start times, so we would get to school early and he would tell us his story and we would capture it.

"It's all his own imagination. He is inspired by the Harry Potter books, he also likes to read the Beast Quest books and actually writing this book has encouraged him to read more.

"He is in the Amazon Best seller, top 100 for his category, he is ecstatic about it.

"We are so proud of him. The fact he has been able to stick to writing a book and then publish it is amazing, his school has been really supportive as well."