Post by Charity on May 17, 2006 11:48:09 GMT -5
High Point nine-year-old publishes first book
HIGH POINT, N.C.
A 9-year-old whiz kid who memorizes World Almanacs and whose intellect doesn't register on standard IQ tests is now a published author.
Thomas Little's first book is "The Adventures of the Symbols," a self-published novel that has keyboard characters such as $ and % in a mysterious plot. The book was ranked No. 557,363 in sales Tuesday on Amazon.com.
Little, who is know by his pen name Thomas D.L., already has a jump on his next three novels and the next book, "The Symbols versus the Numbers," could soon be out.
His parents, David and Ann Little, knew their son was special but didn't know what was normal learning and what was an unusual gift.
Thomas had a vocabulary of about 1,000 words by age 2, when most his age know only about 200. He started learning to play piano by age 4 and at 6, he aced exams college seniors took in his father's classes.
He was tested in second grade and his skills and intellect were found to be in the post-high school level.
The Little family decided to homeschool Thomas because no local schools were equipped to teach someone with his intelligence. But his parents, who are professors at High Point University, find it difficult to keep up.
"It hasn't happened yet, but it's only a matter of time before he outpaces us," said Ann Little, a marketing professor.
Despite his intellect, Thomas is still a 9-year-old boy who plays center on a flag football team and invites friends over to play video games and build Lego creations.
"You can talk to him on such an advanced level, but then you remember that he's just 9," Ann Little said, recalling the time her son transposed classical music on the piano in his Batman Halloween costume.
Thomas may go to college early, but he says he is not sure what he'd like to be.
more
www.journalnow.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=WSJ%2FMGArticle%2FWSJ_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1137836132608
HIGH POINT, N.C.
A 9-year-old whiz kid who memorizes World Almanacs and whose intellect doesn't register on standard IQ tests is now a published author.
Thomas Little's first book is "The Adventures of the Symbols," a self-published novel that has keyboard characters such as $ and % in a mysterious plot. The book was ranked No. 557,363 in sales Tuesday on Amazon.com.
Little, who is know by his pen name Thomas D.L., already has a jump on his next three novels and the next book, "The Symbols versus the Numbers," could soon be out.
His parents, David and Ann Little, knew their son was special but didn't know what was normal learning and what was an unusual gift.
Thomas had a vocabulary of about 1,000 words by age 2, when most his age know only about 200. He started learning to play piano by age 4 and at 6, he aced exams college seniors took in his father's classes.
He was tested in second grade and his skills and intellect were found to be in the post-high school level.
The Little family decided to homeschool Thomas because no local schools were equipped to teach someone with his intelligence. But his parents, who are professors at High Point University, find it difficult to keep up.
"It hasn't happened yet, but it's only a matter of time before he outpaces us," said Ann Little, a marketing professor.
Despite his intellect, Thomas is still a 9-year-old boy who plays center on a flag football team and invites friends over to play video games and build Lego creations.
"You can talk to him on such an advanced level, but then you remember that he's just 9," Ann Little said, recalling the time her son transposed classical music on the piano in his Batman Halloween costume.
Thomas may go to college early, but he says he is not sure what he'd like to be.
more
www.journalnow.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=WSJ%2FMGArticle%2FWSJ_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1137836132608