Anne Baird
Works by Anne Baird:
She grew up on the edge of a jungle in Trinidad during WW II. She amused myself by publishing a hand-written, illustrated weekly newspaper called The Daily Blah. She sold these for a penny a copy to friends, launching her career as an entrepreneurial author/illustrator.
She continued to write and draw throughout boarding school, high school and college. She married, raised three children, three dogs and two cats. She taught elementary school and was a school administrator in places as diverse as Panama, New York, London, Denver and Los Angeles. She still dreamed of being a full-time writer and artist. In the 80s, and realized that dream by publishing eleven books with traditional publishing houses William Morrow and Simon & Schuster.
In 2002, alarmed by the rise of eating disorders in women, including one of her own children, she shifted focus from children to grownups. She created a line of paper greeting card affirmations called Goddess Cards. This prospered. She received accolades from women’s health professionals and devoted customers all over North America.
However, grappling with shipping and physical paper inventory was challenging to an artist. She converted her entire inventory of paper cards to a successful line of digital e-Cards (http://www.egoddesscards.com) to concentrate on creating again. For this, she won an award from the West Vancouver Chamber of Commerce in 2011 for Best Home-Based Business.
A meeting with two gifted musicians from L.A. lured her back into books for the very young.
Cary Beare and Allison McCready had written a toilet training song to inspire their nephew to move on from his diapers. She agreed to create an illustrated picture book for POTTY PARTY. It was their first collaboration. They created four more musical e-books for toddlers: MOON MOON, TEENY GREEN, BLANKIE, and SUNFLOWER, and launched the collection as Little Big Books.net (www.littlebigbooks.net.) All five books are available for purchase on iBooks (Apple) and Kindle (Amazon).
What next? She just finished and submitted a proposal for a new 48- page children’s picture book (ZIP TAKES A TRIP) to Canadian publishers. ZIP tells the story of an intrepid little snail who makes the Hero’s Journey up the wall of a brownstone house. She is seeking food and shelter because her old home no longer supports life. Her story is the refugee story. It’s the story of everyone who needs a new beginning, of courage and perseverance that triumphs in the end.