Meet Beatrice
Beatrice Higgins is a retired school teacher with 45 years of experience in primary education. Now enjoying a well-earned retirement, she has turned her lifelong passion for literacy into a creative mission: giving back to the world of storytelling while she is still able.
Her beloved Persian cat, Reza, is her constant companion and the inspiration for the series. Through 157 stories (and counting!), Beatrice blends her pedagogical expertise with genuine humour to create tales that are more than just entertainment. She believes that true quality comes from storytelling that encourages parent-child bonding, not from high-cost marketing or flashy, distracting apps.
While some of Reza's schemes are intentionally "grown-up" or satirical, they are designed to give adults and children something to discuss together. In the world of Reza Shadey, Beatrice often appears as "Mrs Higgins" — Reza's patient "servant" — patiently managing the chaos of his latest "visionary" project.
A Different Kind of Website
In a digital landscape filled with "teaser" chapters, hidden subscriptions, and book advertisements, this website is intentionally different. Beatrice has no intention of publishing books or charging for access to these tales.
Why is it free? Having dedicated 45 years to the classroom, Beatrice now views this project as a "creative gift" to the next generation of readers. Her goal is simple: to ensure that any parent or carer with a mobile phone has immediate, high-quality stories at their fingertips, regardless of their circumstances.
By using a Creative Commons license, she has created a "digital library" where stories are a shared public resource. It is a non-commercial labour of love — though Reza Shadey himself, with his dreams of becoming a tech billionaire, would likely find this "free" business model absolutely scandalous!
Quick Facts
- Expertise: 45 years in primary education brought to every tale
- Non-Commercial: No ads, no books for sale, and no subscriptions
- Pedagogical Value: Designed to spark conversation between adult and child
- Accessibility: 157 stories optimized for reading on any portable device
- Open Access: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licensed (CC BY 4.0)
Acknowledgements
Many thanks to the people and organisations who help keep these stories online: Acknowledgements.
