Anita Frost’s Highlights

Celebrating Success - Anita Frost’s 2021 Highlights

As the year draws to a close, now is the perfect time to reflect on the year and take stock of life. With the continuing uncertainties of COVID-19 and the ever-present doom and gloom in the media, focusing on the positives and celebrating successes is more important than ever. Here’s a round-up of Anita and the Green Bean team’s highlights for 2021.

Award-wins for Books and Toys
2021 has been a fantastic year for Green Bean Studios, with several awards being scooped up for our children’s toys and books. We were delighted to have won Best Eco-Friendly Children’s Toys & Books Retailer 2021 at the SME News UK Enterprise Awards, and Children’s Toy Retailer of the Year 2021 at the Corporate LiveWire Global Awards. These awards highlight the business’s dedication to sustainability and helping children to learn through play and nurture a love of reading.

Welcoming new members to the team
This year, we have welcomed on board several new team members who have contributed to our ongoing success and growth as a business. With additional unique skills and talents within our team, we are excited to be expanding into new markets and connecting with even more fans globally to share our message of learning and edutainment.

Making noise in the Music Industry
Having collaborated with some exceptional homegrown musical talent, as well as some experienced individuals who are already established in the music industry, we have created our brand new music album - Time To Dance. This marks the first of many new creative audio-visual productions for Green Bean Studios, bringing the joy of singing, dancing, and learning to more families worldwide. 

We are excited to be launching our music album at an exclusive premiere event in February 2022 where fans and professionals from the TV, Music, and Literary industries will be coming together to hear the tracks from our album before anyone else does.

New connections and business opportunities
Despite COVID restrictions earlier this year, Anita and the team have attended several exciting events that have enabled us to make new connections and presented new areas for business development. Anita attended the Children’s Media Conference virtually this year, speaking to big names in the Children’s TV, Media and Film industry, such as BBC Studios, Nickelodeon, and Brown Bag Films. 

The Green Bean team also recently attended the FOCUS 2021 event - ‘The Meeting Place for International Production’ which brings together industry professionals to connect and share global production expertise across film, TV, advertising, animation and games.

New product releases
In 2021, we had three new product releases to add to our growing collection of educational toys and games. Our 7in1 Card Games offers great value for money with 7 fun games for the whole family to enjoy - with a compact design and bold illustrations with favourite characters from the Green Bean stories on the cards, parents have loved this new release for providing entertainment for children on-the-go.

We have released two new Jigsaw Puzzles this year - a summer and winter edition - which our little fans have been loving. Each jigsaw puzzle shows some of the much-loved characters from the Green Bean Collection, and encourages children to enjoy problem solving, cooperative play, and develop key skills in observation, memory, and fine motor skills. The box comes with a handle on top for easy transportation too.

Christmas Magazine
For another year running, we have created a seasonal Christmas magazine providing fun edutainment for our little fans. With educational activities to support early learning, storytime, stickers, puzzles and festive arts and crafts activities, our magazine has been a huge hit with children and parents alike. Many parents have told us that they include our magazine in Christmas Eve Boxes or as stocking fillers, to keep children amused and entertained over the Christmas break!

Continued partnerships with libraries
Our partnerships with local and national libraries have continued throughout 2021, with many author events and activities taking place to bring families and communities together for learning fun. We have been especially excited to launch our Christmas Writing Competition in partnership with Wigan Library, giving preschool and primary school children the chance to write a story and win some amazing prizes from the Green Bean Collection.

Live Storytime Events
After months of COVID-19 lockdowns, we were delighted to be able to get back to doing our Live Interactive Storytime Sessions this year. As well as our free community events, we also held private events - we were blown away that both our public and private events were fully booked for the year!

The iconic Trafford Centre welcomed us back again this year to bring live entertainment to families and children in this premium retail space in the heart of Manchester. We absolutely loved sharing stories from the Green Bean Collection with both new and existing fans at our Storytime Sessions, and look forward to taking Green Bean and Friends on tour next year too.

Though it’s hard to stay positive in these challenging times that we are all facing, it is important to take some time to reflect and recognise all the good things amongst the difficulties. We are proud of all that Green Bean Studios has achieved during 2021, and are excited and optimistic for what 2022 brings. 

What have been your biggest wins this year? From everyone in the Green Bean team, we wish you all a peaceful, joyous festive time and a Happy New Year!

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I am a professional writer and editor with a passion for creative writing. With a marketing background, I love playing with language to deliver powerful messages and tell brands’ stories in an engaging way. I am a keen advocate for children’s reading and nurturing a love of books from an early age. Follow me on Twitter @MelBrannlund or email me at [email protected]

Look out for Melissa's latest articles on Anita Frost's author website, where she'll talk about topics including business and publishing, author news and events, and giving back to communities. You can find her in-depth monthly feature on the News & Media page of the Green Bean Collection website, discussing children's books and reading, early years education, living a greener lifestyle and all things Green Bean!

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