Daily Inspiration: Meet Johnna Lyman

Today we’d like to introduce you to Johnna Lyman.

Hi Johnna, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Rooted in Nature, LLC is the business name and my main products at this time revolve around the main character in my children’s books, HONEY. This is my story of HONEY.

My Honey Bee books and related products are a tribute to my late mother, Honey. My writing journey began one night in December 2018. As my mother spent her last days in hospice at my home surrounded by our family, I was sitting nearby when these thoughts kept coming to me. I wasn’t sure what they were but I liked the ideas and started writing them down. My husband asked me what I was doing, and I told him, “I think I’m writing a book.” So began the chapter of writing and illustrating my first book, HONEY CALMS THE FARM. I was not sure where the inspiration for the theme and title came from but what I did know for sure is that my mom was the calm in all of my storms. The story flowed out of me pretty effortlessly, although my husband Tom gets all the credit for the last page of all the books in this first Honey Series. He was the one who suggested writing a series.

The only people who knew I was writing my first book was my husband, Tom, and my close friend, Denise. Tom helped me when I got stuck on a few things and when he came up with the last page he said, “now you can write a series.” (With all of my books, he also proof reads and will give suggestions with wording or illustration ideas). Denise is a school psychologist (we worked together for 20 years) who coached me through the whole writing and illustrating process. As I call it, my art therapy as I worked through my grieving. (Denise continues to help and allows me to bounce ideas off of her as needed).
Once the book was finished, I decided to research how I could get it published so that I could give it as a gift to family members and close friends. That research led me to Amazon self-publishing. I have to admit that I didn’t have confidence in my tech skills, so I asked my sister-in-law, Stefanie, to help me with this piece of the process. I mailed her the draft and soon it was available on Amazon. Stefanie continues to be my “tech” person.

Christmas 2019, HONEY CALMS THE FARM, was given as a gift to family and friends and put me on my journey of becoming a children’s author.

HONEY CALMS THE FARM was the first book in my first series of 5 books. My mom’s birthday was the beginning of April so I would set a target date of release for each book in that series for April. The other books in this series are HONEY VISITS THE ZOO, HONEY FEEDS THE POND, HONEY EXPLORES THE CITY, and HONEY DISCOVERS THE FOREST.

As HONEY DISCOVERS THE FOREST was completing my first series, I was getting ready to retire and complete my teaching career in public education. I didn’t plan that but it was perfect how the timing worked out.

During the time that I was working on the first series of books, COVID hit. Because I was a special needs preschool teacher, I wanted to help find a way to give the kids ideas of some things that they could do during lockdown. With the help of some young friends and relatives, HONEY STAYS SAFE was written, illustrated, and published. Each of the eight kids who participated, illustrated a page for the book. It turned out great and they are all now published authors and illustrators.

When COVID hit and we had to begin remote learning, it was a big challenge. I had to think of a way to be able to collect the data I needed through Zoom. Because my students were special needs preschoolers I had to become creative and make it fun. One of the first things I did was start up my YouTube Channel, HANGING OUT WITH MS JOHNNA. One this channel, the students could listen to me read a story and during our sessions we would do follow up activities to the different stories. I would either mail or drop off on their porch the supplies needed for the activities. The other thing I did was develop The HONEY GOES TO SCHOOL Board Game. The setup of the game allowed me to collect the data needed as the students thought we were just playing a game. The HONEY GOES TO SCHOOL Board Game is not yet available to the public as it is still in development. I also have a store on Teachers Pay Teachers website that offers a variety of lesson plans and data sheets for sale.

When we returned to school, I used my HONEY Bee books as an addition to the reading curriculum and did a behavior management spin off called HONEYVILLE where students could collect pennies and deposit them into the HONEYVILLE BANK then on Friday they could spend any money they earned at the HONEY DROP SHOP. It was a great hit as it increased positive behavior while decreasing negative behaviors. We (my first grade reading group) also built a Little Free Library and named it The Honey Bee Book Barn.

After I completed my first series, I wanted to try my hand at activity books so I decided to do a holiday series of activity books. The first book that came out this past Nov/Dec 2024 was HONEY’S WINTER HOLIDAY The Buzzy Book of Activities. The next book was BEE MY VALENTINE A Honey and Friends Celebration Activity Book that was released in Feb 2025. The newest release is HONEY SAYS A Honey and Friends Follow Directions Activity Book. The release of this book makes a total of 9 HONEY Bee books.

All of the HONEY Bee books in the first series focus on promoting early literacy development, such as rhyming and vocabulary, The HONEY Bee activity books put a focus on understanding prepositions, developing fine motor skills and following directions.

All of the HONEY Bee books are hand illustrated and written in my own handwriting. The illustrations and writing are not produced in a digital manner. The look for each book is purposely simplistic and naturally imperfect in appearance. I find that the students or children aren’t concerned that the illustrations aren’t perfect. I think adults are the ones who are expecting or maybe looking for a more clean or perfect illustration. In the end, I like the process I use to create the books. I like developing the stories, sketching the books out, then producing a final copy. It may be more time consuming than if I used a program for illustrating, but I like to see what I can produce organically.

Although I’m retired, I still like to be a part of promoting early literacy. I offer author visits to classrooms. For preschool – kindergarten, I offer THE BUZZ OF IMAGINATION: HONEY BOOKS COME ALIVE. The teacher can choose any one of my books and I will come in and read to the class and do a follow up activity with them. I am finding the activity books are a lot of fun to do with a class.

For first and second graders I offer BEE A HONEY BEE BOOK BUILDER. Along with the teacher, I help transform the students into budding authors & illustrators to become A HONEY BEE BOOK BUILDER. Together we help students create their own personalized classroom storybook. We work to get their creativity buzzing and watch them soar as they work together to create a classroom HONEY & FRIENDS storybook keepsake.

The last couple of years I have visited some classrooms to read my HONEY Bee books. Depending on the book, we have completed follow up activities. I also raffle off a HONEY Bee book.

I am in the process of developing a few other educational products. I really like the creative side to this venture. I have a strong village – family and friends – who have supported me and helped my on my writing journey as I’ve created The HONEY Bee Collection. One of my sister’s, Terese, helps with the business side of things. My two other sisters, Linda and Cathy, help when needed. My niece, Jessica, was a instrumental in helping me make sure all of the links were working when I developed my website. She also serves as one of my go-to people when I need an opinion when I’m working on one of my books. My daughter, Rebecca, has helped with the tech side of my YouTube channel.

I’m very fortunate and grateful to have the opportunity of developing Rooted in Nature, LLC and The HONEY Bee Collection. Along with the HONEY books, I have been involved with a few nature-based learning groups. I believe nature and nature-based activities and education are instrumental in child development. My hope is that at some point in the future, Rooted in Nature, LLC can establish a physical location that will allow the balance of nature and the early literacy of the HONEY Bee books.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
When talking about the HONEY Bee books, none of that has been challenging. I think mostly because it’s very personal to me and my family. These books come from my heart as a tribute to my late mother – that was always the number one thing. I’m not keyed in on how many books sell – I’m keyed in on early reading literacy and getting books into the hands of children. This is one way I can contribute.

The technology piece, such as developing my website, self-publishing the books, and uploading videos to my YouTube channel was challenging but in a good way because I have learned a lot and I continue to learn in that area. Fortunately, I have others I can go to as resources to help and teach me.

When talking about the business end of Rooted in Nature, LLC, that is much more challenging for me. I’m really more of a creative person than a business person. I have my family and friends who understand the business aspect who are supportive and help me when I have questions or need advice. It all goes back to my village who truly supports me and this venture.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
In June 2023 I retired from the field of special education after 34+ years, including 30 years as an early intervention specialist working with children birth – 8 years and their families. The children ranged from mild disabilities to severe/medically fragile disabilities. As an early intervention specialist, I have played the role of supporting general education teachers/classroom staff, community preschools and daycares staff, Head Start staff, and families in the home. I have worked closely with related service providers, such as occupational therapists, physical therapists, speech therapists and members of the medical field and other community agencies who may be assisting a family.

Several years prior to retiring I began thinking about starting a nature-based playscape business – an outdoor space where kids could play in a safe environment. After some conversations with my husband we began to look for property that would fit the needs of this type of business. It took some searching, but my husband and I found some property that we thought would work for our playscape. The property is 20 acres that includes a 3 acre pond and 12 acres of woods. It was a blank slate that we have been working on and developing over the last 5-6 years. We have been doing most of the work ourselves, with some help from family and friends. It is not yet ready but we are getting there. It’s been fun to design, create, and develop ideas that we feel will engage others when they visit our property.

Around the time that we found our property, I was doing some research and found a group made up of professionals who worked in nature-based preschools. I joined the group and began networking and attending conferences and meetups. This group takes pride in what they do and are a good resource for outdoor ideas.

As I write this, there is a lot of uncertainty with our government regarding child care, Head Start and the Department of Education. Because we had hoped to make our nature-based business a field trip destination for young learners, we are closely watching and hoping for a positive outcome so that children can continue with their education uninterrupted, including participating in field trips to our place.

What were you like growing up?
I’m the youngest of 8 kids in our family – 4 boys and 4 girls. I grew up in a neighborhood in Lorain, Ohio where there were a lot of kids and we lived next to a park and a block from Lake Erie. It really was a great place to grow up.

I was a tomboy. Loved playing sports. When I was 8 years old, my brother, Tom, told my mom that he thought I was good enough to play Minor League baseball. So she told him to take me to the park during tryouts and have me tryout. Well, he did and I made the team – Lorain Used Cars. Our coach, Mr Wilson, gave everyone on the team nicknames and the name he gave me was Wonder Woman. That name has stuck and to this day when I see some guys that played Minor or Little League with me, that’s how they refer to me. LOL

7-9 year olds played Minor League, 10-12 year olds played Little League. When I turned 10, I tried out for Little League and made VFW. I was picked in the top 10 and several parents did not like that because I was the only girl playing in an all boys league and I was drafted higher than their sons. Regardless of what some of the parents would say throughout the seasons over the years I played, my coaches and teammates always had my back. But most of the time, I let my playing speak for me and it spoke loud enough to silence them.

I also played basketball, volleyball, tennis, and bowling. I liked swimming in the summer and playing whatever pick up game during any time of the year.

Being an athlete and playing on a variety of teams, (and probably being from a large family) taught me many social skills needed to be successful in my career and everyday life.

I have always loved being from a large family. Growing up we played a lot of indoor and outdoor games. Thinking back, many of the games were strategic which helped develop critical thinking skills. Of course, I thought I was just having fun, but in reality I was learning to “think outside of the box”.

My parents were from Canada so all of our vacations were going to Canada to visit relatives. I absolutely loved it. I still have relatives there and love visiting every chance that I get.

I went to St Anthony’s for grade school then to Lorain High School. I grew up at a time when there where no electronics or cell phones. Most families stayed in their homes and the neighborhood did not have a lot of turnover. I grew up at a time that all parents looked out for each other’s kids and it was ok for other parents to discipline us. I grew up at a time when teachers had authority over students. I grew up at a time that if I wanted to spend time with my friends, we would hang out at the park, the pool, have sleepovers, or ride bikes wherever. My friends and I were never home. We were always outside doing something. I can honestly say that I had a great childhood.

I did like art and drawing. In my extended family, we have several very talented artists. Although my drawing skills work for the targeted group of young children for my books, they don’t begin to compare to my very talented relatives.

One of the things that still holds true today is that I am very competitive, mostly with myself. I always strive to do better. For example, when I’m playing sports, I try to focus on the mechanics knowing that once I learn the mechanics my game will become more fluid. As that improves, my skill level improves. It’s a cycle with the goal of constantly learning and improving. I’m not always successful but I keep trying. I guess that analogy can work for most things in my life. I try to do the best that I can – leave it all on the field.

I do my best to demonstrate compassion, empathy, understanding, and kindness. I try not to be biased or judgmental. I try to be the friend I want others to be to me. I do my best to be supportive and caring. I believe in helping others and putting good out into the world.

Pricing:

• My books are priced $10 on Amazon and my website
• Other HONEY Bee products are available on my website
• Author visits are available. Please see website

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.rootedinnature2020.com
• Instagram: @rootedinnature2020
• Facebook: @rootedinnaturellc
• Youtube: @hangingoutwithmsjohnna4732