Meet Jana Anderson | Author and Special Education Literacy Specialist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jana Anderson and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jana, can you share a quote or affirmation with us?
“They don’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care.” is a quote that guides me each day. The single greatest factor to my success as a special education teacher, is my ability to establish connections and ensure that my students know that I truly care about them first before their education. Once they realize that, even my students struggling the most will give 100%. This quote applies to all of us whether its family, community, or in your own business. Connection to each other and our community is what holds families and communities together. We all want to feel we are important to someone in this world and that our lives have meaning and purpose and we are drawn to people who truly care about others and the world we live in.

The greatest joy of publishing The Lollipop Fairy, A sweet birthday tradition has been seeing the joy and connection this simple annual tradition has brought to children and their families. This sweet book about a Lollipop Fairy who travels the world to make each child feel special and loved on their birthday is needed now more than ever in a world where so many children feel disconnected and unimportant.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I always knew I wanted to be a special education teacher because my brother was deaf and suffered a brain injury from a car accident at a young age. I watched his teachers work with him and to this day, I always try to remember there’s a family behind every child I work with that is trusting me to care and give my best each day I spend with them. Although I love to read and have always recognized the importance of books in a child’s life, I certainly never considered starting a business based around my own self-published book. However, a series of events including the loss of eight key family members in the course of three years and the witnessing the awful consequences to children during school shutdowns led me to begin down this road.

As a single mom of two busy teenage boys and a full-time job with little time or resources, I wasn’t sure how I was going to make this work but knew I wanted our sweet tradition to continue on after I was gone someday and felt compelled to put something positive, sweet, and magical back into the world. Through establishing goals, setting small amounts of money aside each month and spending many late nights of educating myself on how to find an editor, an illustrator, learning how to develop a website, develop a trademarked logo, how to find a printer, how to distribute, establish social media, and so much more, I slowly wrote and published my book in March, 2022, established a trademarked brand to promote the annual birthday tradition the book is based on, and I am still educating myself and moving forward to eventually have my book and related products in stores all over the nation. It’s all about patience, enjoying the journey, and not being attached to a particular outcome. This entire journey has brought me so much joy through the amazing people I’ve met and collaborated with, the smiles this book has brought to so many children, the influence the book has had on motivating some of my students to start their own books, and seeing my own children see themselves in this story and be reminded of the many many years of joy this tradition brought to our own family. For me, all of this is about bringing families together and helping children feel loved and special. That’s more than enough for me.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Being a third generation San Diegan, I love everything about where we live. There’s something for everyone but if you are here with kids, there are a few things you just can’t miss. Even if you are not a baseball fan, take a moment to catch a game at Petco Park if it’s the right time of the year. It’s a gorgeous venue with views of the city and a variety of incredible food options that feels a little like a “Taste of San Diego”. If you are here during whale migration, don’t hesitate to take a whale watching trip out of Point Loma or simply go to the cliffs at Torrey Pines State reserve and look out to sea. Seeing the Humpback whales heading to or from Mexico or observing the giant Blue whales feed off of our coastline are moments you can’t experience in many places. In terms of food, there are a few key places you can’t miss out on including grabbing one of our famous carne asada burritos at a local Mexican Food drive through, eating a fish taco at the original Rubios Fish tacos, trying to get your mouth around one of the famous Hodad’s cheeseburgers in Ocean Beach and Downtown, some delicious comfort food at The Crest Cafe, or enjoying a traditional mexican dinner in Old Town. If you like craft beer, you are in for a real treat in San Diego since we are known as the Craft Beer Capital of America. There are too many to list here but it will not take much work to find a fantastic local craft beer. If hiking is your thing, we have amazing options from Torrey Pines State Park on the ocean, to the mountains near Julian, or to our beautiful desert to the East. Electric bikes are very popular and a really fun day trip would taking the boat from downtown over to Coronado, renting electric bikes, and exploring the famous Hotel Del (They have great live music on the beach on certain days), and taking a long ride down the beautiful strand. If you love history, you will love exploring Balboa Park and learning about when and why it was built and at the same time visiting the many museums and world famous zoo that are all right there. Enjoy paddle boarding? Mission Bay has a number of places where you can rent boards and spend the entire day out on the water exploring. If you just want to relax, we always have our many many beaches which is where you usually find me. We live in the greatest city. Enjoy!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Through ups and downs and regardless of what was going on in her life or how challenged life was at the time, my mom always took time to make me feel special and loved. My birthday was always a day where I was celebrated and even when there was no money, my mom would find a way to do something special to make the day perfect. She passed to early but her love and presence are still here with me and my boys. The annual birthday tradition this book is based on was created out of my desire to make sure my boys always felt special and loved on their birthdays and everyday just as my mom did for me. Thanks Mom for your unconditional love and never ending belief in me.

Website: www.lollipopfairy.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lollipop_fairy_birthday/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/lollipop_bday https://twitter.com/lollipop_bday

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/The-Lollipop-Fairy-A-Sweet-Birthday-Tradition-111922414719575

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2QkfwtDRIlOFTgCGWEPOaw

Other: Store: www.lollipopfairytraditions.com TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lollipopfairybirthday