Artivist Series - Kimberly Kenna
children’s author
Kimberly Kenna is a children’s book author. Kimberly who grew up along the shore of Long Island Sound writes cbooks focused on strong girls and their powerful drive to protect the natural world. Before becoming an author she worked with youngsters as a counselor and a teacher of ecology and language arts. Her stories aim to get readers involved, have them think about themselves, their relationships with others and with nature. Her commitment to wetlands is further evidenced by the fact that part of the proceeds of her first book will go to Save the Sound, a New Haven, Connecticut-based nonprofit that promotes ecological restoration in the Long Island Sound area.
Video conversation with Kimberly… click here
What Kimberly talks about …
“Fictional stories are an amazing way, useful way, to communicate with kids. Stories allow kids to experience different things or things they are familiar with from a distance, in a safe way.” It can be affirming and you’re not alone. It’s a way for kids to develop empathy.
As a kid, Kimberly saw Long island Sound as a place to play and be with family. As she got older she learned more about the impact humans had on the fragile area. She has now tuned in to what will happen if we don’t keep it safe and healthy. The protagonist of her first book Artemis Sparke and the Sound Seekers Brigade due out in February 2023 is a conglomeration of herself and the kids she has coached and taught. The inspiration for the book came to her as she walked along marsh trails. The setting supports the themes of finding voice, respect for nature, reflecting change, and legacy. Her book contains magical realism, meaning a little magic can occur in a realistic setting. She wants readers to look at things with different eyes, to understand things are always changing, and we may see things differently than others do. If her book provokes kids to question or to be curious and get conversations going than she’s met one of her goals. Her protagonist Artemis can communicate with the birds and plants because she is willing to be still and listen and observe. Kimberly grew up around people who spoke to their plants and birds.
Her books protagonist Artemis is a girl. Kimberly says that only 26% of protagonists in middle grade books are female – 65% are boys, the remainder are dual (boys and girls together).
Adults interested in getting kids interested in nature have to show their own passion. Get kids outside. Help them connect. Allow them to ask tons of questions. Look things up together. For themselves, to avoid apathy, adults may need to join a brigade. Get together with other adults. There’s a power in many voices and in having a place to share your concerns.
Show Notes
Pam Ferris-Olson (00:01): Today on the Women Mind the Water Artivist Series, I'm speaking with Kimberly Kenna. Kimberly is a writer whose children's books focus on strong girls and their powerful drive to protect the natural world. Kimberly's own power is rooted in both her professional background as an adolescent and family counselor and as a fifth-grade ecology and language arts teacher. The Women Mind the Water Artivist Series Podcast, at womenmindthewater.com, engages artists in conversation about their work and explores their connection with the ocean. Through their stories Women Mind the Water hopes to inspire and encourage action to protect the ocean and her creatures. My guest on the Women Mind the Water Artivist Series is Kimberly Kenna, a children's book author. Going up on the shores of Long Island Sound, Kimberly developed a strong connection to nature and the beach. After working with youngsters as a counselor and as an ecology and language arts teacher, Kimberly discovered a new purpose when she began writing stories for kids.
(01:07): Her stories aim to get readers involved, and have them think about themselves, their relationships with others, and with nature. Two titles in her Brave Girl Collection are set to be released in 2023, and Kimberly is working on a third. Thank you for joining me, Kimberly. I think listeners will be eager to hear about your journey to becoming a published author and how you came to shape stories around brave girls. Your first book, "Artemis Sparke and the Sound Seekers Brigade" is due to be released on February 2nd, which is also World Wetlands Day. Your commitment to wetlands is further evidenced by the fact that part of the proceeds from your first book will go to Save the Sound a New Haven, Connecticut-based nonprofit that promotes ecological restoration in the Long Island Sound area. Kimberly, let's begin by having you tell us about Long Islands Sound. It clearly is important to you and the setting for your first book, "Artemis Sparke and the Sound Seekers Brigade."
(02:14): Kimberly, let's begin by having you tell us about Long Island Sound. It clearly is important to you and the setting for your first book, "Artemis Sparke and the Sound Seekers Brigade." What I know about Long Island Sound is that it has along its shoreline several densely populated cities like New York and New Haven and it is a heavily traveled transportation corridor with heavy industry. It is also an estuary where saltwater from the ocean mixes with freshwater from rivers like the Housatonic and Connecticut. Estuaries are said to be some of the most productive ecosystems on earth. Tell us about the Long Island Sound you know and love.
Kimberly Kenna (02:59): Sure. Well, thank you for having me, Pam. I'm excited to talk about all this with you. So I was born and raised in this area on the shores of Long Island Sound, so it goes way back. As a kid, the beaches and the shores and the trails around them were places of play and excitement and family time spent clamming and crabbing with my dad and fishing. A place where I'd go if I needed some quiet. I'm the oldest of four kids, so at times I wanted to get away and I would go sit on the beach and just hang out there and be. So I saw it as sort of an idyllic, as well as an exciting area. And then as I got older, I understood a little bit more about it.
(03:58): And as a kid, maybe the beaches were closed a few times a summer because of big storms and high bacteria levels, and I didn't really think that much of it as a kid. But then as time went on and I learned more about the impact of humans on this very fragile area, it sunk in more that it wasn't something we could all just take for granted. I still enjoy it immensely. I mean, I still do all those things. Well, not fishing, but I do a lot of other things around here outside by the water. But I am definitely more tuned in to the fact of what will happen if we don't pay attention and do our best to keep it safe and healthy.
Pam Ferris-Olson (04:54): Okay. So the Long Island Sound where your Brave Girl character, Artemis, lives seems far away from any hustle bustle of urban places. Artemis, however, is concerned about changes happening in her little coastal town. Would you say that Artemis is in some way biographic?
Kimberly Kenna (05:13): So as far as her being biographic, she definitely, I would say, has parts of me in her and also a conglomeration of many ... I've worked with a lot of kids teaching and coaching ... and probably all mixes of attributes of many, many children I know, but again, including myself. She's not based on one particular person.
Pam Ferris-Olson (05:41): When you chose a setting for your book, what elements did you feel were important?
Kimberly Kenna (05:47): Well, it's interesting because you asked me about choosing the setting and as a writer, I feel like I didn't really choose it to begin with because Artemis came to me while I was hiking around the salt marsh trails, and I saw her in that area hiking around the salt marsh trails overlooking Long Island Sound. So to begin with, I didn't really choose the setting, but as a writer, certainly, as you go on, you have to decide whether that setting works. And I chose obviously not to cut it, I'm using this setting. So in effect, I did choose it. The elements that you're asking about would be does the setting support the themes of the book and the themes of finding voice, respect for nature, legacy, and things like that. And on reflecting change. Certainly, nature reflects change. Those are the elements that I was looking to be sure that the setting could reflect.
Pam Ferris-Olson (06:51): Interesting. I would say then that Artemis is a Kimberly whisperer that helped you pick the setting. When you wrote, were you writing about a real place or was that too an amalgamation of places that you know?
Kimberly Kenna (07:10): Definitely an amalgamation, but again, since I grew up around here, those beaches and trails are all in my head, but I've also visited a lot of coastal towns. So it is sort of a-
Pam Ferris-Olson (07:23): Okay, well, I grew up along Long Island Sound too, and I didn't get a clear vision of the marsh and the actual setting. And I wondered if you did that kind of as an abstract painting where you were trying to promote the reader's imagination or maybe encouraged them to do some research about the area in order to see it more clearly through Artemis' eyes.
Kimberly Kenna (07:48): ... Okay. So this is a really interesting perspective to me because I had a clear vision in my head when I was writing all of the nature settings that were in the book. But what I find interesting is that you describe it as an "abstract painting," and to me, an abstract painting, it defies a literal representation. So in my book, which happens to have magical realism in it, meaning a little magic can occur in a realistic setting, it makes sense that you're ... I can understand your perspective here because you're looking at a story with blurred edges sort of. It's not out-and-out, black or white. There is a little magic to it.
(08:41): So though I feel like many people do see the settings clearly, the fact that you're seeing it with that sort of blurred abstract really excites me in a way, because this is what I'm trying to get readers to do, is to look at things with different eyes and to understand that things are always changing. And also the way people see things aren't always going to be the way that we see things. So if my book and story get kids to question or provoke their curiosity or even, yeah, get the teachers and them saying, "Wait a minute, I need to research this to learn more," then to me, I've met my goal in at least that aspect.
Pam Ferris-Olson (09:34): And you made my day by saying that I excited you. So I come from a scientific background, and I guess when I was saying "abstract," I don't see what the seagrass looks like. I don't smell the mud. You talk about it being there, but I think I would name the plant and tell a little more about its leaves, or-
Kimberly Kenna (09:58): Oh, okay.
Pam Ferris-Olson (09:59): ... understand a little more what salt marsh looks like. Which I don't say you have to do. I'm just saying that's why it seemed abstract to me because I could be in a marsh just about anywhere.
(10:11): But I understood her affection, particularly because you portray Artemis as being able to communicate with a bird. And I describe it more like telepathy than actually talking to the bird. Artemis also seems to be able to interpret the language of fireflies and even marsh grasses. Which we all, well, I don't know that we all, but many of us have the ... is it Snow White? They can talk to the birds. And so I really was excited about that, but never thought I could confer with the marsh grasses. So why did you choose this device to convey the problems that the marsh was experiencing?
Kimberly Kenna (10:53): Well, again, I didn't choose it to begin with.
Pam Ferris-Olson (10:57): Okay.
Kimberly Kenna (10:57): When she came to me, she was interacting with creatures and plants in a felt sense, but also verbally. So what you're seeing as telepathic communication is more an attribute of her personality. So her ability to sense what's going on in the environment is just a virtue of the fact that her neighbor, Mrs. Moonchaser, might say, comes from those who are willing to be still and listen and observe and attend. And I grew up with and around people who did speak to their plants and trees and birds. Thank you, mom. She does speak to birds still, actually. And to me it's not unnatural, but it's almost like an extra sense and a gift.
Pam Ferris-Olson (12:00): When I kayak, and I live in Maine on Casco Bay, I often sing to the seals hoping that they will pay attention because it's a sound they don't hear like the rumbling of boats, and I kind of hope that we'll have some communication. But I think I need to walk on some of the trails you do and maybe have Artemis whisper to me so I could be a little more in tune. I definitely see and feel, but I haven't got through that communication yet. So from your experience as a counselor and an educator, can you tell me how you view stories as being useful in communicating ideas to youngsters?
Kimberly Kenna (12:47): Yeah, I think fictional stories are just an amazing way, a useful way to communicate with kids. Stories allow kids to experience different things or things that they're familiar with from a distance in a safe way. So if it's something difficult like divorce or bullying or anything like that, seeing it in a story, first of all, for somebody who is going through it themselves is affirming. They're not alone. There are other people that are going through this. And second of all, even if you're not going through it, stories are a way for kids to develop empathy and to better understand other people. Stories just can be very, very powerful in that way. And more than that, they open up dialogues between the child and the teacher, or children and other children, just readers and other readers. As we were talking about before, if it makes you question and wonder, then that's great for starting a powerful, meaningful discussion.
Pam Ferris-Olson (14:13): Well, you used a term "magical realism," and although "Artemis Sparke and the Sound Seekers Brigade" isn't a ghost story, several ghosts actually appear in this story. And I wanted to know why you felt it necessary to include ghosts, or why do you think Artemis came to you and talked to you about ghosts?
Kimberly Kenna (14:37): So this story evolved directly from my experiences with children, especially in the classroom. So as a teacher, we would explore what we called "essential questions" that are big umbrella questions that would be one question used throughout the year that would encompass and thread through all the different areas of the curriculum. So one was, "How does the past influence the present?" So whether we were studying Ancient Egypt or Greece or ecology or whatever that question was always in the back of our minds when we were exploring, researching, and discussing. So in that vein, in my classroom, we would oftentimes tap into, or what we used to call "resurrect the ghosts of deceased people", and in this particular case, deceased ecologists.
(15:37): And the students would, after reading picture books or doing a little research, would step into the shoes of these ecologists and try and imagine themselves as that ecologist up against a problem in Long Island Sound today. So how might that past ecologist strategies be applied to today's problems in Long Island Sound? So this whole thing about ghosts, resurrecting ghosts as we did in the classroom, metaphorically, that's how it wove its way into Artemis Sparke's story, was I saw Artemis as also being able to learn something thanks to the legacy of the environmentalist ecologists before her.
Pam Ferris-Olson (16:30): Of the ecologists that I know, I'm unfamiliar with the three that you did choose. Was there a particular reason why these three came into the story?
Kimberly Kenna (16:43): There are many, many, many people that have made differences in the ecology field that are not Rachel Carson. So I thought it was really important to learn about some of these other people and to see that success and people that do good things come in all different shapes and sizes.
Pam Ferris-Olson (17:05): I love that. That's exactly what I'm trying to do with my podcast. The people that I talk to range from being well-known to just effectuating change in their own world. Do you think by naming Artemis's gender that it affects a reader's engagement? For example, does writing from a girl's perspective, even though she is a brave girl, do you think it affects reader's ability to see themselves in the story?
Kimberly Kenna (17:33): I actually looked up some of the more recent studies, because I knew that girls were in the minority as being represented as protagonists in middle grade fiction, and they're still down there. I think 65% are boys that are protagonists in middle grade, and it was 26% are girls and the rest are dual protagonists, male and female. So, I don't know. I do feel that in general, in writing and publishing and books themselves that girls need to come out front and center.
Pam Ferris-Olson (18:09): I agree with you there. Yes. Finally, Kimberly, do you have advice for adults working or living with youngsters? How can they encourage connection with nature? How can they encourage stewardship and desire to make a difference? And maybe a lesson we all would benefit from, how can we work to avoid apathy or despair from the seemingly overwhelming problems and important, yet fragile places like salt marshes face? I know that's a mouthful to ask you to help change the world.
Kimberly Kenna (18:41): Yeah, well, I think for adults that are interested in getting kids interested and closer to nature is you've got to show it. You have to walk the walk, show your passion, share your passion, get kids outside. If you're in the city, go to parks. Or if you don't have access to parks, maybe there are other ways. I happen to be blessed to have a backyard, and many people don't. If you grow seeds on your apartment windowsill, things like that will help kids connect. But sharing it with them is the big thing. Sharing nature with children, allowing them to ask tons of questions, and if you can't answer them, great. Everybody go look things up together. I think it's just fun for them to do that. And it's fun to know that adults don't have all the answers for a child, and I just think that it's a trickle-down thing.
(19:47): If kids see their parents or other adults trying to keep open spaces clean and safe, if they see them respecting nature just as you should respect another human, that is going to somehow affect them and hopefully in a positive way. Just to know that every little change makes a difference. Interconnectedness. I mean, we don't have to use all those big words with them or anything, but just by being outside or with nature in some way with kids, I think that comes across.
(20:23): And then as far as the last question about avoiding apathy and distress, for especially us adults that have been with this for a while, I would say join a brigade, get with other people and learn what it feels like to have joined voices and the power of many voices and share your concerns and share your brainstorming for how to make things a little bit better. And it helps keep your hope up a little bit, I think, when you have people around you that share your same concerns. So even online, there are a lot of online groups now. Audubon has them, and I know Save the Sound does for different ways of connecting with other people that share your concern and your passion.
Pam Ferris-Olson (21:17): I think that's well said, very wise, and I think that Artemis is wise beyond her years, so you're very lucky she's come to you. Kimberly, I appreciate your interest in being on the Women Mind the Water Artivist Series Podcast. I hope listeners have enjoyed our conversation about writing, ecology, and using stories to educate, empower, and inspire. I'd like to remind listeners that I've been speaking with Kimberly Kenna with the Women Mind the Water Artivist Series Podcast. This series can be viewed on womenmindthewater.com. You can see them on Main Street and YouTube. An audio-only version of this podcast is available on womenmindthewater.com, on iTunes, and on Spotify. Women Mind the Water is Grateful to Jane Rice for the use of her song, "Women of the Water." All rights for the Women Mind the Water name and logo belong to Pam Ferris-Olson. This is Pam Ferris-Olson.