OK, now I've known my fair share of six-year-old boys, but they were usually into playing with trucks or destroying mankind on a computer -- that sort of thing. Then comes Christopher Beale, a Swiss six-year-old who is about to launch his first book in London on November 25th. Say what? I think the aspiring author in me actually felt a pang of jealousy over the career of someone in primary school.

According to the Independent, "Christopher Beale completed his 1,500-word, five-chapter novel This and Last Season's Excursions when he was six years and 118 days old, beating the previous Guinness World Record by 42 days." No! You mean there are more six-year-olds getting published? No, no Nadine, says the Independant. "The youngest published female in the world was a four-year-old from Washington DC, whose book How The World Began was published in 1964." Maybe I should just give up now.

But wait! After surfing www.CBeale.com, I found out that his father is also a published author. Clearly nepotism at work! Oh lord, I'm being petty about a six-year-old, aren't I?

The book follows the tale of Christopher and his animal friends. He wrote a whole book on his lunch after his mother asked him to write her a story. He's currently at work on his second novel. I'm going to go have my mid-life crisis now.