Hi There,
I'm Doreen Baumann.
I've been a passionate creative all my life and now the author of my first children's book, Sid the Fiddler and the Coastal Critters. I hope it will bring awareness of how we humans affect the delicate and vital ecosystems that many take for granted.
I grew up in Bayville, a beach town known for its oysters and clams on the north coast of Long Island, New York. I enjoyed boating, waterskiing, and eventually sailing on the sound. My father was an educator, my mother a librarian.
After graduating from Lake Erie College in Painesville, Ohio, I began a career in managing school textbook production at two book publishing companies in New York City. I brought books to print for authors like Charles Schulz and Bill Martin Jr. with a staff of art directors.
Becoming a mother of three boys and living overseas led to exciting adventures that took many paths through Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Doha, Qatar; Rochester, New York; and Long Valley, New Jersey. Then to the South Carolina Lowcountry and new beginnings. After fifteen years owning a building business and designing specialty millwork with my husband, Stu, and then "retiring" with four horses in La Veta, Colorado, we returned to the beautiful and much warmer South Carolina Lowcountry.
I have come full circle to re-enter the publishing field by establishing my own publishing company, MsBlueHeron Productions, LLC, and becoming an author. An exciting venture!
Be sure to check out my educational activity sheets, a kids' pledge to keep the coastal shorelines clean, and follow my blog for the next publishing ventures for the Coastal Critter Chronicles series.
Photography by Photospoon
Joyce the Oyster
Skip the Shrimp
Keep the Coasts Clean,
Best wishes, Doreen
Daisy the Marsh Tacky
The Concept for the Book Began
as a kids’ tour for my local community that would not only be fun and entertaining but educational. Everything changed in March of 2020. With experience as a volunteer docent and Marsh Tacky caretaker at the Smithsonian Affiliate’s Coastal Discovery Museum on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, and, after reading about the tons of trash left on the beaches during the summer, the tour became a book with a conservation message.
I was delighted to find a talented illustrator in Kate Fallahee, whose ability helped create the heartwarming personalities of the twelve characters. And my editor, Krista Zimonick, offered advice beyond typical grammar revisions. It was a pleasure to have Sally Murphy, a retired biologist with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, review the accuracy in detail of each character. And many thanks to my reviewers: Dawn Brut, Curator of Education at the Coastal Discovery Museum and Michaela Johnson Yates, Bluffton Elementary School Counselor and Master Naturalist from the Lowcountry Institute.
Maud the Sporting Dog
