Local author delights in helping children read

Happy Cat and Up Dog love cake. Their adventure to make a favorite dessert for their friends is captured in a new children’s book written and illustrated by longtime Daniel Island resident Elizabeth Anderson. 

 

The animals featured in “Cake Day” are characterizations of pets Anderson has known throughout her life. Happy Cat is based on her family’s current pet they call Big Kitty. 

 

“I really enjoy reading and I thought wouldn’t it be cool to have a fun little story in which kids would be drawn to the colorful characters,” said Anderson, who used simple illustrations children could relate to.  

 

Anderson volunteered with children who needed extra reading help when her daughter, now 14, was a young student at Daniel Island School. That’s when she came up with the idea for a book that would build confidence by helping kids learn their sight words.

 

These are high-frequency words that children are encouraged to memorize to make reading easier and faster. “Cake Day” incorporates 80 words young readers need to master. 

 

“I wanted to write something that would spark kids to want to read at an early age, so I put together a story that used the most common sight words,” Anderson said, “and when you read them over and over, those words will sear into your brain.” 

 

So far, the feedback has been positive. 

 

“Parents enjoy reading it to their kids and their kids enjoy reading it themselves,” Anderson said. “They like the illustrations and the nice simple story that kids want to circle back to because it’s cute, it’s colorful, it’s fun.”

 

When she’s not reading, writing, or dabbling in art, Anderson works as a broker associate at Keller Williams Real Estate in Mount Pleasant. She is a self-described Army brat who moved frequently with her parents before settling in the Center Park area of Daniel Island with her husband and daughter 12 years ago.

 

“We moved around a lot growing up and my dad retired here so I kind of followed suit,” Anderson said. “This is the first southern place I have lived and I love it here. It’s great how it’s so pedestrian friendly; the biking, the walking, just being able to get wherever you want to go without getting in your car.”

 

Anderson self-published “Cake Day” through Amazon, where it sells for $10. The book can also be found at the Daniel Island Library and Anderson is hoping to make it available in some local stores.

 

“I just want it to get around and spread some joy,” she said. “It was one of those bucket list things. I wanted to write a book and when the pandemic hit, I had time to be home and do it.”

 

Anderson said she is thinking about writing a second book with her daughter – a funny story about pampered pets. Big Kitty and other neighborhood fur babies could serve as inspiration.