Monster hit for young author

When Pritvik Sinhadc was seven-years-old, he published his first non-fiction book about dinosaurs. Now that he is 11, the young author is getting ready to release three more titles by the end of this year.

Child author Pritvik Sinhadc, 11, published his first book, When Dinosaurs Roamed the Earth, when he was 7 years old. He plans to publish three more books this year or early next year. Reem Mohammed / The National
Powered by automated translation

DUBAI // When Pritvik Sinhadc was seven-years-old, he published his first non-fiction book about dinosaurs. Now that he is 11, the young author is getting ready to release three more titles by the end of this year.

The Dubai College student is motivated not by the prospect of recognition or financial riches but by an “extreme passion” for prehistoric beasts.

“My parents said that at age one I got interested in early birds and reptiles,” said Pritvik, who was born in India but has lived most of his life in Dubai.

“That interest carried on into an extreme passion for palaeontology and to writing my book.”

Pritvik’s first book, When Dinosaurs Roamed the Earth, was distributed by Magrudy’s in Dubai.

Two follow-ups, Walking With Prehistoric Beasts and Rare Dinosaurs, are in the works with an anticipated release for later this year or early next year.

Walking With Prehistoric Beasts will delve more deeply into the Paleozoic, Mesozoic and Cenozoic eras, he said.

In Rare Dinosaurs, Pritvik hopes to inspire his peers to get to know “the more misunderstood, weird dinosaurs”.

One of the stars of the upcoming book is the Therizinosaurus, a dinosaur that was “almost the opposite” of the superstar dino, Tyrannosaurus rex. The Siats meekerorum is another underdog dinosaur to be featured.

“When the Siats finally went extinct, the dinosaurs like the tyrannosaurs could only then rise to power,” said Pritvik. “The more famous ones are those originally discovered. They just captured the public’s imagination. These animals can do that also. Therizinosaurus is stronger and more powerful than a T-rex, Siats is much faster than tyrannosaurs or allosaurus.”

While Pritvik’s love for palaeontology has grown, so has his interest in nuclear science and environmental preservation.

He is also publishing a book called the Impact of Radioactive and Nuclear Waste on Marine and Land Species.

He said one of his goals was to one day work with the Abu Dhabi government in protecting the country’s environment.

Last week Pritvik stood in front of hundreds of his peers to discuss his upcoming projects.

“Some of our sixth formers came in and even they were amazed at his knowledge,” said Kate Greenlees, head of Year 7 at Dubai College.

“The kids love it. The students are very supportive of him and they like the fact they can learn from him as well.”

Pritvik’s mother, Indira, said her son’s interest in palaeontology had only blossomed further over the years.

“His obsession for palaeontology, and also the other subjects, has always grown. It has never, never faded,” she said.

“Hopefully that is what he is going to do. We as parents do not wish to push him for anything he doesn’t want. Let him enjoy what he does and I hope he does something great.”

rpennington@thenational.ae