The most recent lecturer at Janet D. Greenwood Library was one unlike any of the others so far. Kimberly P. Johnson spoke to a notable group of fans on Thursday, Oct. 17 in the atrium of the library.
While the group was small, they were all intrigued by Johnson’s words. Dean of the Library, Suzy Palmer coordinated the even with the help of Cindy Elliot, budget specialist.
Palmer met Johnson on a plane over the summer while coming back from a conference and the flight ended with Johnson’s attendance at Longwood. Previously, Johnson spoke at Longwood’s Summer Literacy Institute.
Johnson opened by rhyming in her introduction. She walked among the seats in a hands-on manner and was very enthusiastic when she talked about her career and how she got where she is today. She was very comfortable in front of the audience and appealed to everyone, including the young children in the crowd.
While many lecturers or visitors read their works for the majority of their time, Johnson spoke about passion in her work, and her lecture reflected is. She is clearly extremely zealous about writing, especially writing children’s books. “I wanted to take what was in my head and what was in my heart and put in on paper,” she explained.
Johnson’s first book, “The Adventures of the Itty Bitty Frog,” was a great step for her career; however, she was and still is “petrified of frogs.” She also has written a children’s book about spiders, another creature she has a fear of. It took Johnson four books before she started writing about humans, and it was then that she knew she could really be a children’s author. “Every story I wrote from that point on had to mean something,” she said.
Trying to explain her writing process, Johnson stated that “everybody has the capacity to do these three things: listening … use creativity … and the last piece of it is that we have to impact others.”
Everyone in the audience was asked to stand up and participate in questions and an interactive story, “Mr. and Mrs. Right,” in which she tested the listening skills of the audience. Throughout the story, she would say, “left or right.” The entire audience would then take a step either left or right, depending on the word, and many struggled to keep up.
Next, she tested their creativity by tossing a blow-up ball around and asking them to come up with a short story based on a letter she gave them. For example, one audience member came up with the story, “My name is Linda. My brother’s name is Larry. We live in Louisiana, and we sell locks.” The letters V, D, F and T were used as well.
For the final activity, she tested the audience’s ability to encourage others. She listed negative statements, and if the audience member had said it, they sat down. Half of them sat down as soon as she said, “I can’t remember names.”
When she finished her activities, Johnson read parts of her books, starting with “The Adventures of the Itty Bitty Frog” and told the audience she wrote it while working as a flight attendant.
It was apparent that Johnson has memorized the book, for she barely evenly looked at the pages as she read. She worked the voices of the characters and actions of the book, and she never stifled her energy while reading.
Johnson has written fourteen books and is currently working on a book for younger teenagers called “All That Drama.” Her works include, "The Adventures of the Itty Bitty Frog,” "The Adventures of the Itty Bitty Bunny,” "The Adventures of the Itty Bitty Spider and the Itty Bitty Mouse,” "Paperback Poetry Part I,” "Paperback Poetry Part 2,” "Tag-Along Fred,” "Not Again, Mr. Cat!,” "Teachers Need Tugging Too!,” "It's Time For School - A Wonderful Day!!,” "F.A.S.T. Tracks from A–Z" and "My Mother Is My Friend."
Prior to writing, Johnson worked as a hostess for the 1989 Presidential Inaugural Gala for President George Bush and was later asked to return to Washington in 2002 when she was invited by President and Mrs. George W. Bush as a guest reader at the annual Easter Egg Roll at the White House.
“Thank God she did not ask me to read the Frog book,” she said, regarding the First Lady.
In showing her advocacy of children's literacy, Johnson gives a portion of proceeds to children's literacy organizations and has as well developed a line of greeting cards, motivational CDs and motivational posters that are available for students and teachers.
Longwood Catering provided water and iced tea for refreshments, as well as snacks consisting of mini grilled cheese sandwiches, chocolate covered bananas, trail mix, pretzels and mini ham sandwiches.
Johnson continues to visit schools throughout the U.S., speaking to children and adults about literacy and writing and conducts staff development workshops on how to motivate children in the classroom and teaches creative writing to elementary and middle school students.
In regards to whether she would prefer to write or teach, Johnson replied, “I think when you teach others, you’re really writing, whether you’re putting pen to paper or not; you’re encouraging them through your words, through the dialogue you have with them,” she said. “I think writing is the same with teaching. I hope that, in my book, I’m teaching everyone to look at their life and to decide if they’re applying some of the things we learned to their life every day.”
Children's book author Kimberly P. Johnson displays a collection of her works at Greenwood Library, including "The Adventures of the Itty Bitty Spider and the Itty Bitty Mouse."
