Land O’ Lakes resident Anne Higgins is the author of the children’s book, “Princess Caddy Finds a Home.” The book tells an endearing story of a real-life cat that came to Higgins’ yard and would not leave, while teaching important concepts for young children and helping them develop vocabulary and comprehension skills.
Released in 2018, the Princess Caddy book has been such a success that Higgins has written a follow up book, “Princess Caddy Takes a Vacation,” which will be available to readers next spring.
In addition to the new book, Higgins also is introducing an adorable plush toy of Caddy the Cat, which will be sold individually and also packaged with her books.
Higgins is a speech pathologist who has helped thousands of children develop their speech and language skills. She previously supervised 35 speech pathologists in the Plano Independent School District, in Texas, where she also published an articulation kit for severe speech disorders that was in publication for 20 years.
After moving to Land O’ Lakes a few years back, Higgins continued to work with children with speech disabilities, and it was here that Princess Caddy entered her life.
“This is a true story about a little kitty that basically came to my yard and didn’t leave. I was telling my little 3- and 4-year-olds about the kitty and found out they were more excited about what Caddy would do every day, than what Miss Anne would do,” said Higgins. “They could care less what I did in the morning, but they wanted to know everything that Caddy did in the morning.”
So Higgins decided to write a book about the adventures of her cat that would both entertain young readers, and help them develop vocabulary and comprehension skills. The hardcover book is filled with colorful illustrations, and appeals to a broad audience of children.
The response to the first Princess Caddy book has been amazing.
“I found integrating Princess Caddy into my therapy to be probably one of the best methods I’ve ever come up with,” Higgins said.
The books use stories about Caddy and her interaction with other animals to help teach basic concepts and help them to develop their vocabulary. Higgins established an index for adults to explain basic concepts that are important for 3- to 5-year-olds, and also lists the vocabulary words presented in the book, which children learn through repetition. Each book contains more than 100 vocabulary words, ranging from simple to complex. Higgins also added a section of questions to help children with their comprehension.
“After you read this to the child, you can ask them some questions, and see if they were listening and understanding,” she said.
Higgins received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas, in Austin, and her master’s degree from the University of Texas Dallas branch.
Laster, she moved to Scottsdale, Arizona, where she worked with 3- and 4-year-old children with hearing impairments. At the same time, Higgins worked on speech and language skills with students with autism and who were severely developmentally delayed.
The original Princess Caddy book is available through Amazon.com and BarnesAndNoble.com.
Published August 25, 2021
