Janice Nibbs Releases New Children's Book
Janice V. Nibbs has published the second entry in her Traditional Virgin Islands Career Series, I Want to Be a Baker, aimed at introducing young readers to early 1900s trades. In an exclusive VINO interview on October 20, 2025, Nibbs said copies are available locally from her and online via Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
Nibbs has released I Want to Be a Baker, the second book in her Traditional Virgin Islands Career Series, which introduces children to occupations from the early 1900s. Speaking to Virgin Islands News Online (VINO) in an exclusive interview on October 20, 2025, Nibbs said the series is designed to give young people a foundation in the islands’ working past. "I wanted the children to have an idea, because I wanted them to have a foundation on which to build because, as you know, most children nowadays have only seen technology.
They don’t know anything about the things of before," she told VINO. The new title follows her first book, I Want to Be a Thatcher Man, published on September 1, 2023. Copies of I Want to Be a Baker are available locally directly from Nibbs and online through Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
Nibbs said she is undecided about holding a formal launch for the second book, noting that it is part of an ongoing series and that momentum from the first book is helping sales. The response to the inaugural title has been encouraging, she said. "The response has been good," Nibbs said, adding that many locals have bought copies through Amazon and that her personal sales via in-person events and direct requests have kept interest strong.
Her goal remains to sell 1,000 books in the series, a target she said she has not yet reached. Illustrations are a priority for Nibbs, who brings experience as a librarian to the project. "As a librarian, we know that seeing one picture is worth a thousand words so I wanted to put pictures so that they can relate the picture to the activity," she said.
Rueben Vanterpool illustrated the first three books in the series, Nibbs said she is still seeking additional illustrators to continue future volumes. Nibbs is also promoting local literary collaboration. She launched the Janice Nibbs Book Tour & Meet the Authors on Virgin Gorda and has invited fellow Virgin Islands writers to participate. "I think we do quite well as a group...
I want people to know who the local authors are," she said, noting a market for locally produced books and the tendency of residents to collect them. For BVI residents, the series offers a way to preserve and pass on knowledge of traditional trades and island life to a new generation, while supporting homegrown authors and artists.
Those interested in purchasing copies or inquiring about illustration or tour participation can contact Nibbs directly through her local channels.
Primary source: VINO