Author/Illustrator Bette A. Stevens, Hartland Craft Fair. Photo by Ann Foss, secretary and treasurer of The Hartland Historical Society, Hartland, ME.
Bette A. Stevens debuted her latest children’s books, AMAZING MATILDA: A Monarch’s Tale, and The Tangram Zoo and Word Puzzles Too! at Hartland’s Annual Craft Fair sponsored by Grace Linn Memorial Methodist Church today. Visitors had the opportunity to meet the author and purchase signed copies of her books. Stevens says, “It was great talking to craft fair visitors, not only from my own community and state, but to ‘neighbors’ as far away as New Hampshire. I thoroughly enjoyed being able to share my books and my writing experiences, to sign books and make new friends. This was my first public appearance as an author. I was nervous, to say the least; but, the warm, welcoming crowd put me completely at ease.”
Stevens and her husband Dan live on Ford Hill Road in Hartland, ME where they are renovating their 37-acre farmstead. They enjoy gardening, clearing woods trails to ‘get the wood in’ and for snowshoeing in the winter or nature walks any time of year. When they want to kick back and relax, they take an occasional day trip to the coast.
Stevens graduated from University of Maine Orono with a B.S. in elementary education after a successful business career at CIANBRO Corporation in Pittsfield, ME where she was editor of the company’s newsletter. Later, as an elementary school teacher, Stevens taught students in grades 4-8 in California and Virginia before retiring in Hartland, ME.
Stevens says, “I am a writer who loves nature. I also love to sketch and paint and often take a small pad and pencil on my walks to the brook, where I jot down picture nuggets for my poetry and stories. Parents, teachers and other adults in our kids’ lives are always looking for ways to inspire children to meet their challenges with patience and persistence. That is the main plot of AMAZING MATILDA.” Stevens has used The Tangram Zoo and Word Puzzles Too! in the classroom with all of her students to integrate math, science and language arts for a hands-on, creative learning experience. Stevens says, “It makes learning lots of fun whether in the classroom or at home with the family.”
Both of Stevens’s books are available at Amazon.com through her website
http://angelassignmentstm.tripod.com/cherubs4children/amazing-matilda-a-monarch-s-tale-by-author-bette-a-stevens.html
or at your favorite online bookstore. If you live in Central Maine, you may also contact the author directly at bettestevens@tds.net for signed copies of her books and to schedule readings, book talks and book signings for your school or organization.
A short Q&A with Author Bill Harley
Bette A. Stevens, Maine Author 
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