Children’s Book Author and Illustrator

Author/Illustrator Paul Brett Johnson is a native of Kentucky’s Appalachian Mountains. He has published over twenty books for children. His work has garnered numerous honors including two Kentucky Bluegrass Awards and a California Young Readers’ Medal. Many of his books have been selected to noteworthy lists in School Library Journal, American Bookseller, Bulletin, Smithsonian magazine, the New York Public Library’s "100", and the IRA/CBC children’s choices. He has been profiled in CHILDREN’S WRITER’S & ILLUSTRATOR’S MARKET as well as Writers’ Digest. He has been listed in WHO’S WHO IN AMERICA. Paul currently lives in Lexington, Kentucky     

QUESTIONS KIDS ASK:

Where did you grow up?
I grew up in a small, Kentucky town with a funny name: "Mousie." It’s in the heart of Appalachian coal country. It wasn’t called Mousie because it was so small, though. It was named after a real person, Miss Mousie Martin. She was the first postmaster’s daughter. I might have come from "Kitty," Kentucky, however. Mousie had an older sister who’s name was. . .you guessed it.

What did you like to do as a kid?
What I liked to do and what I wanted to do were two different things. I wanted very much to play basketball. My father had been an award-winning basketball player and everyone sort of expected the same from me. Unfortunately, no matter how many hours I spent practicing, I wasn’t very good at it. During my entire elementary basketball career, I only scored two points during official play-and I made those at the wrong end of the court!
What I really liked was drawing. I was pretty good at that. When I wasn’t trying to be a basketball player, I was usually doing some kind of artwork. My parents were very supportive. They were able to get private lessons for me from the art instructors at nearby Alice Lloyd College.

When did you start writing?
Believe it or not, I wrote my first story before I could write! How did I do such a thing? With pictures, of course. Even before I started school, I kept a sketchbook. Sometimes I would make up stories using pictures.
I always knew I wanted to be an artist when I grew up, but I didn’t think much about writing until I went to college at the University of Kentucky. There I took a course in children’s literature and became very excited about picture books. Perhaps I could illustrate picture books, I thought. Even better, perhaps I could write them as well! A seed had been planted, but many years passed before I was able to make that seed grow.

How did you get started as an artist?
When I first got out of college I tried several different jobs. I taught elementary school art for a year. I took photographs for a theater company. I even made fifty-foot hot dogs for grocery store displays. But none of those seemed right for me. So one day I decided to open an art studio/gallery. I rented an abandoned garage (really cheap) where I painted pictures and hung them on the walls for sale. Amazingly, I was able to make enough money to get by.

How did you get your first book published?
My first book was published in 1993. By then I had been making my living as an artist for nearly twenty years. During that time I would occasionally write stories and send them to publishers. They were always rejected, so I would forget the whole thing for a while. But finally the desire to make my dream a reality took over. I read every how-to article and book on writing for children that I could find. I wrote to publishing houses for their catalogs. I spent many hours at the library just reading picture books. Armed with my new knowledge, I remembered a story I had first written about ten years earlier. It seemed to have all the raw ingredients for a successful book, so I rewrote it and sent it out again. Within six months THE COW WHO WOULDN’T COME DOWN   had found a publisher.

Do you have a real job?
I don’t have to get up at a certain time every morning or drive across town in the rain or snow. I only have to walk ten steps to my converted garage studio to get to work. Lucky me! But I do put in a lot of hours, and I am very serious about what I do. I call that a real job.

Do you have a family?
I’m not married, and I don’t have children. Fortunately, all families are not made from the same pattern. There are people in my life who are very special to me, who make up my family. There’s also my cat, Carly, who thinks she’s the most important family member of all.

Where do you live now?
For over forty years, I’ve lived in Lexington, Kentucky. Recently I moved from a downtown Victorian neighborhood to a 1960’s-era home with lots of glass—quite a change! It sits high on a heavily wooded lot. Sometimes when I look outside I feel like I’m in a tree house. What fun!

Are you rich?
I certainly don’t have loads of money. (In fact, I don’t know of many authors or illustrators who do.) What I have is the great satisfaction of doing something I truly love, of creating stories and pictures that seem to make a difference to others. I think that’s a pretty fat paycheck all by itself!

Do you like peanut butter and jelly?
Well, my initials are PBJ, aren’t they?