By day Hannah Fritzke is a Barista, and serves as Assistant Manager of the Starbucks Coffee shop inside Martin’s Super Market on Hilltop Road in St. Joseph. By night…or really essentially at any other time available, Hannah is a burgeoning artist with substantive talent, and now also a published illustrator for a children’s book about a runaway lawnmower.
In addition to her work as a coffee mixologist, Hannah’s talent is showcased in her own surroundings having crafted the signage for both Starbucks and for Martin’s Deli inside the Martin’s Super Market at Hilltop & Cleveland in St. Joseph Charter Township.
Her talent is clearly on exhibit as well at First Baptist Church in St. Joseph where she completed a full wall mural of Noah’s Ark for the nursery located at the church, and another mural proudly on display on the wall at Brian’s Marina on Marina Island in St. Joseph.
Other signage projects she has completed include the Rested Pillow Mattress store on Hilltop Road and the nearby Papa Vino’s Italian Restaurant, according to her father, Marlo.
Her latest project however, has the potential to take her work well beyond the physical boundaries of Michigan’s Great Southwest. Hannah has illustrated the children’s book The Runaway Lawnmower written by Mary Morgan. The colorful book, created for children aged 3 to 9 years old has been published by Buttonwood Press and is available locally exclusively at Parable Christian Store — Banner Books in Southtown St. Joseph, located behind Buffalo Wild Wings. She has personally sold more than 100 copies of the book to Starbucks customers as well.
Thanks to her outstanding talent on that new book released in March, Hannah Fritzke has been nominated for an illustrator’s award in publishing.
Hannah is a St. Joseph High School graduate who went on to earn her Associates Degree at Lake Michigan College in Benton Harbor. If she wins the illustrator award, it won’t be her first such win. She won a HarborFest design contest in South Haven and had her design printed on festival t-shirts as a result.
The 32-page book, The Runaway Lawnmower is from Lansing author Mary Morgan who is also author of six National park Mysteries designed for pre-teens. Hannah lives in St. Joseph and loves to draw and illustrate for children.
Freelance writer Richard R. Blake, who recently relocated to Bridgman after owning and operating the Family Book Center of San Leandro, California for more than 30 years, wrote a review of Morgan’s book calling it “A captivating story — the gift of happiness found while bringing joy to others,” and gave the book 5-stars out of 5. He is also co-founder of Christian Education Resources.
Check the book out for yourself at Parable Christian Store — Banner Books in Southtown St. Joseph.
