Teachers Turn Authors, Publishers

Marietta teachers Rosalind Bunn and Kathleen Howard know how to tie a shoe. They've tied thousands, and now they have combined their experience, their long-time dream of writing and their charming wit in their first publishing endeavor Sophie May and the Shoe Untying Fairy.

Bunn teaches fifth grade at , and Howard teaches kindergarten at . Howard has lived in Marietta for 20 years while Bunn has lived here 16 years. The pair taught at Sope Creek together 10 years ago.

"I love teaching the little ones," Howard said. "I've always loved teaching kindergarten and first grade. They are just so much fun."

Having both taught kindergarten, Bunn and Howard adamantly agree on one thing—"We've tied a lot of shoes," they said together.

"Working with kids all day, some times it seemed all we did was tie shoes," Bunn said.

Enter their book Sophie May and the Shoe Untying Fairy.

"It is a book about tying shoes," Howard said. "It's kind of a fanciful story, and also has a pay it forward kind of message at the end."

The book is geared toward children between the ages of four and seven. The picture book is designed for parents to read to children.

Howard says, however, that children have really responded to the language they use in the book. She recalls a child telling her that the book was able to "put things in words that kids would actually use or understand."

A lot of the time writers don't "understand what makes kids happy or excited or understand something," Howard said. Working with kids allows Bunn and Howard to have a firmer grasp on how a child's mind works and what they really enjoy.

"We've both wanted to write a children's book for a long time, and we had the idea awhile ago and just kind of sat on it," Howard said.

The pair actually wrote the book three years ago. Moving the project from a story they had written to having it be a published book, however, was a hard process.

They sent the book to a publisher in Savannah about a year ago and were introduced to the publisher through a mutual friend. After that things started moving forward, and Bunn and Howard were introduced to an illustrator.

"We all seemed to be of the same mindset with the book and what we wanted it to look like," Bunn said.

The book took a year to illustrate.

"It was a lot of going back and forth," Howard said. "But we are thrilled with the illustration. The illustrator used a lot of vibrant, bright colors that are really fun and really brought the book to life."

The book is being distributed through ARK Publishing, LLC, which is Bunn and Howard's company.

"We've had good sales with early book signings and just word of mouth," Bunn said. The pair is working mostly regionally.

"We like the hands on approach," Howard said. Around 2,500 copies of the book were printed and a few hundred are in Savannah.

Howard notes that there are copies of the book in the media center at her school. "The children will check it out and bring it to my room and say, 'Look what I'm reading. I love your book!' It's amazing to see the book in print and see the joy that children seem to get from reading it."

So how hard is it for two people to write a book together?

"In teaching together, we also became real best friends," Bunn said. "We do  a lot of things together, and we have a real big trust in each other. We work well together but also give each other critical feedback."

"We each can give input in writing and use our talent there, but we also have someone right there to tell us if what we're doing works or not," Howard added.

The pair have a second book being illustrated called The Butter Bean Lady, which they wrote in January 2011. This book is designed for an intermediate audience, second to fourth grade.

It is a picture book as well and "could be used in any grade level," Bunn said. The book is "a historical story set in the early 1950s and has a message of acceptance," Howard added.

The book is expected to be ready for release in Spring of next year.

"We've always wanted to write a book, and the ideas are always there," Bunn said. "Everyday we come up with a different idea; it's all about finding the right time to pursue it."

Bunn and Howard said they intend to continue writing different kinds of children's books for various ages.

While the pair entered into this endeavor wanting to be just authors, their dreams have expanded. "Now that we have our own publishing company, we see ourselves with duel roles as both authors and publishers," Howard said.

They have a third manuscript, which was given to them by fellow East Side teacher Lyssa Sahadevan. They intend on editing the piece.

"We'd love to work with more local authors and get good children's books out there," Bunn said.

The coauthors will hold a book signings at , 15 West Park Square, Friday from 5 to 9 p.m. and Bookmiser (East Cobb location) at Roswell Rd. next to East Side Elementary on Dec. 3 from 1 to 3 p.m.