Across Kenya, children are fascinated by the work lives of their guardians. And every once in a while, circumstances make it necessary to carry along our young friends with us to work. A son sits with his mother at the kiosk she runs all day. A daughter hands tools to her father as he fixes an electrical appliance. A grandchild reads a book as their grandparent types out a transcription. It is under such circumstances that Ngure Matu Ndiritu began fiddling around on a computer at his father’s office. Instead of quickly finding the gaming applications to entertain himself with, Ngure sought the word processor. The boy had a world of stories living in his mind and he needed to begin putting it all on digital paper. His aspiration was to someday invite readers into his created universe. 

At six years old, he began typing and slowly brought together a collection of tales about everything under the sun. His imagination flowed freely as he made his characters go through conflict, gladly reaching the resolution which would finally give them release. In between these narratives, he would add some of his thoughts, a little original commentary to accompany the scenes he was setting. As Ngure’s visits to his father’s office continued, his collection of stories grew. And when his father’s time at this place of employment came to an end, the office secretary called him to inform him of the wide array of stories authored by his son, just sitting on the company desktop.

Immediately noticing the gift Ngure possessed, his father reached out to publishers with the pitch for a children’s book written by a child. At his young age, Ngure delved deep into the publishing process when his manuscript was picked by Phoenix Publishers. He was very involved with every step of taking his stories from digital files to real books with their iconic book smell. Working with editor Shiro Marima, his dream finally became a reality in 2014. At age 8, he held the book launch of his first story collection, titled “Out of the Box,” surrounded by his schoolmates and the people who celebrated his craft and achievement.

For Ngure, that book was to be the first of many, showing the great scope of the boy’s ambition. He informed anyone who asked him that he wanted to have 100 books written by the time he turned 30. Alongside his 100 books, his career prospects at the time were to be a pilot, and if that somehow didn’t work out, the president of the country. Beyond his determination and massive vision for life, his love for the people around him shone through his interactions as well as his writing. With lessons about friendship, service, and courage, Ngure’s book continues to speak in Kenyan libraries everywhere. 

As storytellers, we applaud Ngure for dreaming big, one of the foundational qualities of a creative artist. We hope to see more captivating stories and collections flowing from his pen for years and years to come.