Shannon Anderson talks about her most recent book during an appearance at the Shelby County Fair on Sunday. Anderson, an Indiana author, was a guest of the Shelby County Libraries.
Megan Lewis | Sidney Daily News
By Megan Lewis
For the Sidney Daily News
SIDNEY — Author Shannon Anderson, who lives in Indiana, appeared at the Shelby County Fair on Sunday to discuss her books along with her writing journey.
She said it started in fifth grade when author Jamie Gilson made plans to visit her school. Leading up to her visit, Gilson held a writing contest that Anderson entered. She won and received a signed copy of Gilson’s book, “Can’t Catch Me, I’m The Gingerbread Man.” Knowing her story brought joy to others, Anderson decided on that day that she would be a writer.
When she was a first grade teacher, she gave a homework assignment where the kids wrote a how-to paper. Anderson wrote one too as an example about how she and her daughter taught their dog to jump through a hoop. The kids enjoyed it so much that she sent it to a children’s magazine that rejected it. Instead of giving up, she worked on it until it was accepted by Highlights Magazine in August 2012. This was her first official published work.
Her first published book came out in 2013, and is called “I Am Not A Pirate.” This is loosely based on her daughter’s struggle of having to wear an eye patch as a kid because she was diagnosed with Amblyopia, meaning she had one good eye and one bad eye. For her treatment, she had to wear an eye patch for six hours a day over her good eye to strengthen the bad one. The book is no longer in print, but if a child is struggling with this condition, she will print them a copy for them.
Her most recent book “I Love Strawberries,” was introduced at a Children’s Writing Conference in 2014. It took 10 years to get it ready for publication. The book has now gone National winning multiple awards such as National Book of the Year by the Farm Bureau Foundation. It was even featured on an episode of “Bedtime stories with Ryan.”
The story is about a young girl named Jolie who loves strawberries. She wants to grow some on her own, but her parents won’t let her. So, along with her rabbit friend Munchy, she sets out to convince her parents that she can do it.
The sequel “I Love Blueberries,” will be coming out in April 2025.
