For the Love of Storytelling

The book collaboration between two teachers that began at an East Cobb elementary school continues today as their budding business venture. 

In the last few years, Rosalind Bunn and Kathy Howard have spent quite a bit of their spare time writing and producing two picture books for young readers. 

As it turned out, that was the easy part. 

Spreading the word about their books -- "Sophie May and the Shoe Untying Fairy" and "The Butter Bean Lady" -- published in 2011 and 2012, respectively, is their preoccupation for the moment.

"You have to do a lot of your own marketing," said Howard, who recently retired as a kindergarten teacher at Sope Creek Elementary School. "At first, you think you're just an author. Then you learn you have to wear many more hats."

She and her writing partner, Rosalind Bunn, a fifth grade teacher at East Side Elementary School, have set up Ark Publishing, LLC to help distribute the titles, which are geared for children between the ages of 3 and 8.

The books were published with the assistance of Savannah-based Bonaventure Books, which provided an illustrator, Lydia Rupinski, whom Bunn said "really brought the stories to life."

Says Howard: "We wrote them because we liked the stories. They are complete in themselves. They're not part of a series."

Their shared desire to avoid what Bunn called a "gimmicky" trend emerged while both were teaching at Sope Creek. But the writing was delayed while both women were raising families. 

They wanted to tell stories that not only stoked the imagination of children, but also had some practical value. In "Sophie May," readers are treated to what Howard calls a "fanciful tale" about a young girl and her pink high-top tennis shoes, but also given "step-by-step illustrations of how to tie shoes."

"The Butter Bean Lady" is a more personal story, stemming from the 1950s childhood of now-retired East Side assistant principal Dianne Gurr in Columbus, Ga.

An African-American woman selling produce at Gurr's grandmother's home often brought along her young daughter. As the story evolves, the girls strike up a friendship at a time when segregation was the law in the South. 

"It's not an in-your-face-message" about the subject of race, Bunn says, "but it's there. Dianne said she didn't realize until she was an adult how much of a gift it was" to have gone through the experience. 

(In the back of the book are photos of Gurr, as a child, and her grandmother.)

The press run for the first edition of each book was around 2,000, and they have been on sale at several East Cobb-area bookstores and retail outlets. 

Among the sellers in East Cobb are Uppity's, Signatures, Casabella, Bookmiser and C'est Moi.

Nearby outlets include the FoxTale Book Shoppe in Woodstock, The Chandlery in Roswell, Learning Express (multiple locations), Beanhead Toys and Belles Choses in Sandy Springs.

The books also are available on Amazon. 

Howard and Bunn also will continue making appearances at book festivals, incuding the Decatur Book Festival and the Savannah Children's Book Festival.