SAN ANTONIO — Most days you can find Anna Werner at her sewing machine, putting together the pages of her fabric books.
Which is how she gained her nickname.
“I’m called 'The Storybook Lady,'" said Werner, owner of Anna's Creations. “It started with the kids... as they come around the corner and they see my booth, I hear them."
Each children’s book starts as a bolt of fabric.
“I haven’t found a book that I don’t like. I have about 120 different books,” Werner said.
After retirement in 2005, Werner increased her output.
“I guess the reason I really grew it was, I had a serious back injury and I had a big surgery, and I can sit and sew and it refocuses my mind off my pain to some degree," Werner said.
However, despite all her free time, she still only puts together about 900 books a year.
“I still consider it like a hobby even though I treat it like a business," Werner said. “I want to keep the joy in it.”
She creates books fit for those still in diapers, as well as the elderly and those who are autistic or have other special needs.
“I guess I just want to see children have a book in their hand at a young age. Something that they can’t tear, they can’t really ruin," Werner said.
Her hope: that she's able to spark a love for reading, just as it was instilled in Werner as a child.
“It’s just my passion that children have something in their hands other than an iPad in their early years," Werner said. "I just love to read myself and I want children to love to read as well."
At 72 years old, The Storybook Lady has no plans of retiring from her passion any time soon.
“I’m going to do it for just as long as I can sit at my sewing machine," she said. "It just doesn’t get old for me. There’s just too much joy for when the child gets the book."
You can find Anna’s Creations this fall at various markets, or, if you would like to order one before then, you can email Werner at wernerdatx@outlook.com.
Anna's Creations are also carried at Liebeskind children's boutique, located at 127 East Main St. in Fredericksburg.
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