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Jim Lehman has been a writer and editor for many years and is a skilled discussion leader who engages children and draws them out. He started Brotherstone Publishers in 1989 to publish picture books. The Owl and the Tuba won the 1992 Benjamin Franklin Award for best children's picture book. He is the publisher for the well-known Illinois storyteller Jim May.
In his long career as a writer he has also written many audiovisual scripts. In 1980 he did extensive photo research for an encyclopedia. In the mid-1980s he wrote on a freelance basis a weekly feature article for the local newspaper. He has written two historical studies, two serial novels, and many articles. His writing assignments have taken him to Europe, Africa, Haiti, and many places in the continental United States. He has written two picture books. He also publishes Telling Voices, an occasional periodical of songs and stories. One of his recent projects was to write the central narrative and all the sidebars for an interactive CD and then to produce the CD soundtrack.
In the past ten years Lehman has appeared at 350 schools in 13 states, as well as many bookstores and public libraries. His signature story is the children’s picture book The Saga of Shakespeare Pintlewood and the Great Silver Fountain Pen. He wrote this story in 1976 when he was just starting as a writer. It was in his files for 14 years before it was published. It’s about an ant who finds success as a children’s writer but doesn’t know any children. So he shoulders his heavy pen and sets out to find kids and tell them stories. After the book came out Lehman began to get invitations to visit schools. With this impetus he created his assemblies, workshops, and residencies. Now he travels around telling stories to children just like his character.
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