But it's those times of interaction with friends and strangers that often lead Buzzeo to her next story idea.

"My publisher said we need a book on book care. I said, 'That is something you teach, it's not a book concept,' because I originally thought it wouldn't work," she said. But Buzzeo had a change of heart one day after working out at her local YMCA pool.

"My mind was just wandering around and I heard this little girl's voice say, 'I want to be a doctor, but I'm only 6-years-old and no one will let me,'" she said.

Buzzeo used that little girl's dream of becoming a doctor and made it a reality in her 13th book, "Penelope Popper Book Doctor," which also educates readers about proper book care.

In October, she'll release her 14th book, "Lighthouse Christmas," a book about a lighthouse family that can't make it to the mainland for Christmas due to a bad storm.

"I do a lot of school speaking and kids always ask which book is my favorite," Buzzeo said. "What I always tell them is 'The Sea Chest,' because it was the first book I got published, and my next favorite is the one that is always newly published."

To learn more about Toni Buzzeo including a list of her work, log on to tonibuzzeo.com. For more on this year's Bangor Book Festival, log on to bangorbookfest.org.