Meet Bette Saffran
Bette Saffran is a passionate children’s author and illustrator who believes big lessons often come in small packages. With a background rooted in storytelling and family values, Bette brings warmth, wisdom, and heart to every page she creates. Her Tiny Steam Tug series teaches young readers about kindness, courage, responsibility, and the power of believing in yourself—no matter your size. A lifelong advocate for early childhood development, Bette writes to inspire both children and parents to grow stronger together through relatable stories and imaginative adventures. She lives in St. Augustine, Florida, where she continues to craft tales that uplift, educate, and empower.
Bette Saffran’s story begins in the mist-touched mountains of Morganton, North Carolina, where she arrived as the youngest of four spirited sisters. Her parents, Olivia Shorter of Danville, Virginia, and Sam Stevens, a proud Navy gunner who served aboard a battleship in World War II, soon settled in Asheville before work and warmer tides carried the family south.
Childhood meant frequent moves, five lively years in Tampa, and, much to her mother’s amusement, Bette’s curious habit of wandering farther than a preschooler’s legs should carry her. (A hand-lettered tag with her name and address often saved the day.) At school, she shared a classroom with her mother, a devoted nursery-and-kindergarten teacher, and discovered that being the teacher’s daughter came with extra expectations as well as love.
The stage soon called. Bette found her voice in South Florida dinner theatres and condominium circuits, singing, dancing, and acting her way through scripts that taught her more about people and empathy than any textbook could. Those lessons, stitched with humor and heart, later flowed into her writing. One evening, after watching her young son and his friend “hunt alligators” in the backyard, Bette penned a playful poem for bedtime. The children begged for more, and a lifelong habit bloomed.
Today that first poem sits among many in Bette’s Pantry of Playful Poems, while her picture- book adventures, Tiny Steam Tug, Beneath Lilly’s Glasses, and a growing collection of gentle lessons, carry messages of kindness, perseverance, and the quiet, steadfast love of God.
Whether crafting stories, guiding young readers, or lighting up a library visit with her signature whimsy, Bette’s greatest joy is sharing God’s love through words that sparkle and stay with children long after the last page turns.