By Alaina McCarvill – Staff Reporter

Jonathan Law Senior Sanskar Shah has written and published a children’s book titled “I Can Tell A Story!”

“I Can Tell A Story!” is a children’s book comprising six short stories ranging from stories of friendship, discovering an underwater world, fighting a tiger, a crazy scientist’s invention, a struggle for a pet, and Valentine’s Day. 

“I wrote two of the six stories in second and third grade, one of them in middle school, and the other three before going into sophomore year,” Shah said. “I would say it took me two years to do this – after all my stories were made, the editing/revising, illustrations, and finding the publishing services took me from the summer of 10th grade to the summer of 12th.”

The ebook was published on January 23 and the paperback was published August 9. To find “I Can Tell a Story!” people can ask Shah, or look up “I Can Tell a Story! By Sanskar Shah” on Google or Amazon. 

“Dating back to the good old times, in second grade, my teacher encouraged me to send in a short-story to a competition held by the ‘General Federation of Women’s Club’(GFWC),” Shah said. “I wrote one called ‘The Horse Festival’ (modified to one of the stories in the book – ‘Unpredictable Friendships’) and submitted it that same night, and to my surprise I won an award for it.”

The book has multiple stories with different messages and lessons for a reader to learn. It is expected to make any older reader feel nostalgic.

“I wish more collections like these were presented to us at a younger age,” Senior Pardhip Nair said. “But Shah’s novel is a great candidate for any younger child wanting some entertainment and a few moral lessons.”

Shah did not write his children’s book without the help of English teacher Mrs. Roumeles, who he went to sophomore year to ask about helping revise his work. He was also helped by a few illustrators from a freelancing service, but ultimately the last one he contacted finished all of the illustrations for him. 

“Exploring one’s potential and creating a finished product is an invaluable experience, especially for a high school student,” Roumeles said. “ I am also very honored that he valued my opinions and feedback.”

Shah worked with Roumeles to edit and revise the children’s book.

“Sure, on the surface, one can say that I wrote it, but I do not permit myself to take total credit no matter what anyone says,” said Shah. “I’m not sure how many times I’m going to say this, but I can’t thank Mrs. Roumeles enough.”