Her first day on the job as librarian of Rock Creek Public Library, Annette Sheldon was introduced to what would become her second career: writing children’s books.

“On my first day at work, (a co-worker) told me ‘You have story time at 10,’” says Sheldon, an Austinburg Township resident for the past 25 years. “I’d never seen, never been to a story time.”

Sheldon discovered that reading and telling stories to an audience of squirming toddlers resonated with her, and after 3 1/2 years at Rock Creek, she moved on to the Mentor Public Library as a children’s librarian.

“I really enjoyed reading to the kids and live story telling,” says Sheldon, who retired from the Mentor job in 2005.

By that time, Sheldon had launched her second career, which was purely accidental and never a part of her life plan.

“It came on me like when the snow flies off the roof and nails its victim,” Sheldon says.

Sheldon’s simile speaks to her skill as a writer, an ability that captured the attention of editors at Imagination Press, the publishing arm of the American Psychological Association. Imagination published two of Sheldon’s books, “Big Sister Now” in 2005 and “Big Brother Now” in 2008.

Both are children’s books dealing with the struggles an only child goes through when a new baby dethrones him or her. The books help youngsters prepare for the inevitable changes and show how good things can come along with the emotional demotion of being a big brother or sister.

The idea came from a real-life situation that occurred when her brother’s 22-month-old granddaughter, Kate Morgano, became a big sister to her baby brother, Daniel. Kate didn’t have a problem adjusting to the new arrival. However, the writer in Sheldon saw a story in a photograph of 25-month-old Kate, now 16 years old, smashing cookie dough with a meat hammer as 3-month-old Daniel watched from the sideline.

Sheldon wrote a little story for Kate and expected that to be the end of the tale, but Karen Maizel, a friend of the family who’s an illustrator, heard about it and insisted it be published – with her illustrations.

“I didn’t believe anybody would want to publish it,” Sheldon says. “I sent it to a lot of wrong places, but on the ninth try, we sold it.”

The book is in its third printing, about 6,000 copies, says Sheldon. Its success called for a sequel, one where a baby sister invades her brother’s home.

Sheldon says the book, which was released in October 2008, underwent numerous changes from the original concept and manuscript. She and Maizel envisioned the family living in a log cabin; the publisher wanted a more urban setting, which limited the illustrations’ visual appeal. The manuscript also had to be brought into the clinical expectations of the publisher. Sheldon says the 500-word manuscript went through at least three major revisions, each time requiring changes to the illustrations, as well.

“Big Brother Now: A Story About Me and Our New Baby” is available in paperback and hardcover at most online booksellers. It’s written for ages 2-6.

“It’s a good story-time book, with just the right amount of suspense, good page turns,” she says of the books.

Sheldon says the series could continue with almost infinite variations on the theme of adding a new member to a family, but she’s done with it and wants to move on to more creative pursuits.

“We’re done. I could go on and on, but it’s not necessary at all,” she says.

For her next book, Sheldon will tell the story of a youngster who is scared to go into a library story time. It’s a story based on an experience she had with a young listener.

“She never made it, not one time. It was just too scary for her,” Sheldon recalls.

Sheldon has finished the story and is looking for a publisher. Her grandson, Jacob, also has come up with a book idea, and Sheldon plans to credit him when it gets published. And she and Maizel are still kicking around ideas in which Maizel’s log cabin illustrations could be used.

One thing she won’t be doing is writing fiction for adults or teens.

“I don’t think I could ever write (young adult fiction). I don’t think I could have written that when I was one,” she says. “I can instantly drop into a toddler’s viewpoint and write like that for hours.”

In addition to writing, Sheldon is nanny to two of her 10 grandchildren, Jacob, 6, and Abraham, 4, who live in Mentor. She also volunteers as a guest reader and speaker at area schools, where she encourages students to follow their passion for writing.

“I love going to schools, I really do,” she says. “If kids have a feeling they would be good at (writing), they are probably right. That’s part of the conviction is feeling that you’ll be good at it.”

While Sheldon’s second career came as a surprise for her, she says the signs were there all along. The Kirtland native wanted to be a pharmacist and worked as a technician during high school and college. But she found English much easier and switched majors. She didn’t complete her degree and, while employed in Mentor, returned to college to study children’s literature. But there are some things they just don’t teach you in college.

“The antics of the youngsters on the floor were hysterical,” she says. “At Mentor there was a fistfight in back of the room while I was reading to the kids. They were just slugging it out back there. I wonder what is the protocol when you are reading a story and they are slugging it out?”