Children’s author Kimberly Hoffman.
In a pandemic season when so much has gone wrong, local children’s author Kimberly Hoffman is encouraging young people to think of the good and right elements of life.
Especially gratitude.
“I think the reason that subject is so important especially now is that, with everything going on, a lot of us seem to be pulling inward,” Hoffman said. “We’re home more because of the pandemic.
“In my case, I am working from home, and I don’t see my colleagues as much as I normally do.
“So our focus seems to have turned a little more to ourselves and our immediate lives, and amid that, we don’t easily often see what we can be grateful for.
“There’s just so much hitting us lately. And with that, it can be so easy to forget to be thankful.”
Her latest book, based on a true, local story from her late mother Dorothy McMillan’s life, is “The Red Coat: Giving and Gratitude during The Great Depression,” from PathBinder Publishing, with illustrations by Calder Robinson. Its 26 pages tell the story of her mom’s hardscrabble childhood in which her coat was often threadbare — until a blessed schoolmate donated her own beautiful red jacket as part of city coat drive.
Hoffman is well known among elementary schools, libraries and civic groups for her in-person and Zoom appearances to talk about her books’ themes, from accepting those who are different (“Sigmund Stanley Spider Squared”) to appreciating the city’s architectural heritage (“Cleo and Roger Discover Columbus, Indiana”). She writes with a bent to give her audience credit for latching onto a life lesson amid everything from whimsy to cold, hard reality.
McMillan often shared stories with her daughter about her growing up time with family in Columbus.
“And that had a profound effect on me,” Hoffman said. “… It was amazing to me to think of where they came from.”
That included her mother always keeping in mind that, no matter if supper consisted of little more than beans, she and her relatives were more blessed than local families in what was then known as “Death Valley,” in what is now the Mill Race Park area.
So when the idea for the latest work landed in her heart, she had to follow her muse.
“A story will come to me, and it will hound me until I write it,” she said.
Such is true even amid full-time work at Cummins Inc. and a sideline jewelry-making venture. But daughters Sarah and Rachel Akemon helped her with focusing the story for children after she originally wrote the story for adults.
“Because of the pandemic, it’s been a little tougher getting sales going,” Hoffman said.
Yet, she has sold copies everywhere from arts vendor events to farmers markets. Some buyers include senior citizens who easily relate to the challenge of the Depression.
In the past, her works have been popular at outlets such as Columbus’ Viewpoint Books, where both she and author-husband Paul Hoffman regularly have landed on the bestseller lists. Her spouse frequently has reminded her that she connects well beyond the printed page with her audience.
“You’re an excellent writer,” he tells her. “But where you really shine is with your (public) programs.”
She just completed a Zoom program with a Mooresvlle school. And she is planning other such presentations amid uncertainty, remembering full well that the Depression required her relatives to proceed right in the middle of unsteadiness.
She believes her messages pitched like a pebble can ripple to reach many.
“And we don’t initially know,” she said, “just how far those ripples can reach.”
