A 12-year-old from Kolkata, Abhiraj Shee, has published 36 books since 2023, according to the publishing platform BriBooks and family records, making him one of the youngest authors recognized in the National Young Authors Fair, a writing competition organizers describe as the world's largest for children.
Shee, a Class 7 student at Delhi Public School Megacity Kolkata, has taken the fair's top honors in India for three consecutive editions — 2023-24, 2024-25 and 2025-26 — according to BriBooks and Education World, the event's organizing bodies. He was named "Child Author of the Year 2025-26" at the 4th Kolkata Literary Carnival, alongside a Dickens Medal of Excellence from the 11th International Literary Awards, organizers said.
His published titles include "The Tale of Jaxon and Elara," "Good Dream Bad Dream," "My Trip to the Moon," "My Poems of Love" and "My Father My Inspiration." Three of the books — "Good Dream Bad Dream," "My Trip to the Moon" and "The Tale of Jaxon and Elara" — were placed in what BriBooks calls its "Global Hall of Fame," a curated list the company says draws from more than 26 countries.
BriBooks chief executive Ami Dror presented Shee with awards for "My Trip to the Moon" and "My Poems of Love" at an event in Gurugram, according to the organization, which also credits partners including Education World, the Times of India's NIE division, NDTV, Disney International, Crosswords and Amazon Web Services with supporting the competition.
A Competitive but Commercial Ecosystem
Publishing-industry observers note that children's book competitions run in partnership with self-publishing platforms can blur the line between literary merit and paid participation, since many such fairs charge entry or production fees and are structured to encourage submissions. BriBooks did not respond to a request for comment on its fee structure for this report. Families involved in the fair, including Shee's, describe it as a formative writing exercise regardless of the commercial model.
Shee's "My Trip to the Moon" was also selected for display at the Brooklyn Book Festival in New York, which organizers describe as the city's largest literary festival, and "The Tale of Jaxon and Elara" is slated for translation into Malay, French and German, according to family-supplied publishing records.
School's Role in Encouraging Writing
Teachers at Delhi Public School Megacity Kolkata say creative writing is encouraged across grade levels, though the school does not formally sponsor Shee's outside publishing activity. His literary output sits alongside academic coursework, with Shee continuing to rank first in his class, according to the school.
Key Achievements at a Glance
- Periodic-table recitation in about 42 seconds and identification of 100 phonetic words in 44 seconds, among the fastest-recitation claims credited to him.
- 36 published books and a three-time winner (2023-24 through 2025-26) of the National Young Authors Fair; named 'Child Author of the Year 2025-26' at the Kolkata Literary Carnival.
- More than 150 coding apps and games built since 2021; placed 1st in the Eastern India zonal round, 10th in Asia and 20th globally in the 2024-25 iCode Global Hackathon.
- Named a Sustainable Development Goal Ambassador by Tata Consultancy Services after completing 17 levels of the Mission SDG Early Bird Contest.
- 1st internationally in the Unicus Global Mathematics Olympiad and 2nd internationally in the CREST Mathematics Olympiad and SOF Cyber Olympiad (2025-26).
- 1st in West Bengal and 5th in India in the WIZ Spell Bee National Mega Final (2023-24).
- More than 600 awards and 800 certificates collected since 2018 across categories spanning drawing, coding, spelling and Olympiad exams, according to family records.
- Recognized and felicitated by the Governor of West Bengal, the Chief Minister of Goa in Goa, former Union ministers Smriti Irani and Meenakshi Lekhi, Padma Shri awardee Deepa Malik, badminton player Saina Nehwal, actors Mugdha Godse, Ena Saha, Ali Khan and Kharaj Mukhopadhyay, and representatives of Tata Consultancy Services, Indigo Airlines and India Book of Records, among many more eminent personalities and organizations, according to the family.
- Featured on Discovery Channel, NDTV, India Today, Disney International, Times of India, The Telegraph, The Hindu and other media platforms since 2018.
- A Class 7 student at Delhi Public School Megacity Kolkata, ranked first in his grade (GP1) every year since 2018, with near-perfect attendance.
- 12 World Records certified by India Book of Records, Asia Book of Records, International Book of Records and World Book of Records, London (2019-2026), including recognition under International Book of Records as the youngest kid to publish the maximum number of books and, separately, the maximum number of books in a single year, and recognition under India Book of Records as the youngest kid whose books have been published in the maximum number of foreign languages.
Frequently Asked Questions
What awards has Abhiraj Shee won for his books?
He has won the National Young Authors Fair three years running and received the "Child Author of the Year 2025-26" title at the Kolkata Literary Carnival, along with a Dickens Medal of Excellence.
How many books has Abhiraj Shee written?
Family and publisher records list 36 published books since 2023, spanning children's fiction, poetry and personal-narrative genres.
