Brek Bradshaw is a 5th grader at Shackelford Elementary School in Waxahachie, but he’s more than a student.
“I have a job,” Bradshaw said with a smile. “He’s an author.”
Bradshaw won a book-writing competition last year to publish his book “Chicken Bot and the Golden Egg.”
“His story was just catchy. The title was catchy,” said David Flores.
Flores came up with the idea for the competition and published the book under his bilingual company Brownie Books, which he started after seeing a cultural hole in the book market.
“I just knew…there were stories that needed to be told,” Flores said. “Even if an agent doesn’t pick up my book, or a publisher doesn’t pick up my book, I just wanted to tell a story.”
Flores helped make Bradshaw’s book bilingual, with tests in English and Spanish.
“Well, I think it’s kind of cool that some people from different cultures can read my book,” Bradshaw said.
Bradshaw’s original book draft came with his own sketches of the characters, which were turned into digital illustrations.
“Well the chicken was ok, it was the chicken bot,” Bradshaw said. “They made it green and I kinda wanted it to be orange.”
So in the final draft of the book, it’s orange. The book is sold in select stores and online.
“I thought it would be awesome and all that,” Bradshaw said. “Which was roughly.”
“We’re teaching him a life lesson that his creativity can be compensated,” Flores said. “So you can do something you love and it can be your livelihood.”
Flores would like to run the contest again this year and perhaps expand beyond Shackelford Elementary. They are looking for a donor to help pay the publishing costs.
“You don’t have to be an adult to do something big,” Bradshaw said.
