Elementary student Emma Welborn a published author

When then 7-year-old Emma Welborn was challenged two years ago by her teacher at Hopewell Elementary School to write a story, she knew exactly what her tale would be about.

“I had a hamster, and I really loved it, and I wanted to write about it and my friends. They love hamsters too,” she said in an interview last week.

Emma’s fictional adventure is nothing compared to the real one her story has created for her.

On Tuesday, Tate Publishing in Oklahoma released “Three Friends and Their Hamsters” (paperback, 22 pages, $8.99), a book version of Emma’s tale. The book is being distributed by Ingram Distributors and will be available to all major outlets. It also will be sold online at Amazon.com and Barnesandnoble.com, according to Tate Marketing representative Jana Gridley.

Stacy Baker, who works in acquisitions at Tate, said Emma’s book was chosen because of its kind story.

“ ‘Three Friends and Their Hamsters’ is a delicious book about friendship and loyalty,” she said. “True-heartedness is tough to find today, but set in the framework of brilliantly colored illustrations of friends and favorite pets, an important lesson can be discovered throughout the pages.”

Emma’s story started in second grade in Cynthia Humes’ class at the Cleveland, Tenn., school. She assigned the writing challenge to her students, promising that the best one would be submitted to the Anthology of Short Stories by Young Americans, which prints the best of the submissions they receive into a book.

According to Emma’s mother, Wendy Beaty, Emma’s story of three friends who share a love for hamsters was chosen and was included with other short stories by students from around the country.

“Emma got picked, and then she wanted to pursue a real book,” Mrs. Beaty said. “She wanted her own book.”

Mrs. Beaty sent the manuscript to several publishing companies, and it was selected by Tate.

Mrs. Beaty and Emma worked with Tate representatives over the last year to edit the book and to design and lay it out.

Being able to hold her own book in her hands has been inspiring for Emma, who said she would either like to be a reporter or an author. She is working on two new stories, including a follow-up to “Three Friends and Their Hamsters.”

“One is called ‘Borington High,’” she said of the other work-in-progress.

“It’s about three friends who go to high school. One is a rock girl. One is smart, and the other is nature-loving. It’s about their first year in high school.”