User:Mississanne/Anne Abernathy, "Miss Anne"

Anne Finch Abernathy (born June 14, 1956) better known as her stage name, Miss Anne is an American singer-songwriter, author and lecturer. She developed her career to become an entrepreneur and founder of Fun For Little Ears.

Biography
Anne Finch Abernathy's first memories of her career began when at the age of nine, her creative writing and storytelling talents began as she created original poems and stories, telling them to her sisters and neighborhood children. As a pre-schooler, constant exposure to children's picture books by her parents drew Anne to memorize and repeat familiar nursery rhymes, folktales and fairytales. Upon entering elementary school, Anne immediately became hooked on books, reading beyond the seventh grade level when beginning the fourth grade.

A native of Ayden, North Carolina, Anne was the middle child of three girls whose family owned an operated Worthington's Five & Dime, a department store located on Lee Street in Ayden. Anne attended Ayden Elementary School, Ayden-Grifton High School, and Arendell Parrott Academy in Kinston, North Carolina until furthering her education at Saint Mary's College, Raleigh, North Carolina, The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Rowan University in Glassboro, New Jersey and East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina.

Fun For Little Ears, the original name Anne chose for her childhood storytelling atmosphere was inspired from a shoebox imprint identifying a brand of children's shoes, the manufacturer Fun For Little Toes. The name remained, becoming the registered name of her entrepreneurial company in 1985, a manufacturer, publisher and distributer of books and music for children ages 2-8.

Do You Know Where I Am?, her first children's book illustrated by Lynn Armstrong, was published in 1992 within a division of Random House. Noted for the distinctive educational concept, the picture book was formatted to encourage young readers to guess the location of a character from descriptive text including the repetitive question, Do you know where I am?, prior to viewing a double page illustration. In 1997, Ozark Publishing Company published her four additional books, Mikael's Magical Wave, It's Time To Come In, (illustrated by Michaela Thomas of Germany) What Do You Like To Eat? and her 1997 Kid's and Teacher's Award winning book, No More Peas, Please! Primarily a writer for children's books, Anne Abernathy was published in Our Fathers Who Art In Heaven in the Self-Help/ Inspirational genre in 2005.

In the early 1990's, Anne began writing and recording 48 original songs for children. Represented by ASCAP, her songs were recognized multiple years, being awarded ASCAP's Popular Panel Award. Originally produced and recorded at Horizon Studios in Pitman, New Jersey and manufactured on cassette tapes, the songs converted to CD format and currently sold in CD and digital form distributed internationally.

As the writer of Ragg N' Bragg, a humorous newspaper column, Anne's reflection of family life was printed in the Bogue Banks Weekly newspaper of Carteret County, North Carolina. As a free-lance writer, Anne has contributed to various national educational publications, including The Master Teacher, Cut & Paste, On The Go!, and her first historical novel, based upon the life of the notorious pirate, Blackbeard, is in progress.

Retired from traveling the United States performing and lecturing, Anne Abernathy taught gifted children (AIG students) in Grifton, Greenville, Bethel and Grimesland, four towns located within Pitt County, NorthCarolina. Previously a participant in the Teacher's Executive Institute, Anne participated in the PCCA - Pitt County Citizen's Academy and was a member of the Ayden Rotary Club.