Cousins bring their grandfather to life in multicultural books

A multiethnic group of pals known as the Little Wanderers were trying to decide which historic figure to write about for a school assignment when neighborhood elder Papa Lemon showed them a restored locomotive in his backyard shed, their ticket to the past.

The friends set the dial to 1963, pulled the gearshift and off they went to Washington, D.C., where they met the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. on the day of his "I Have a Dream" speech.

Papa Lemon and the Little Wanderers are the creation of two Minneapolis men, writer Lehman Riley and his cousin, Paul Dixon. Although the cousins shared a pair of grandparents -- Papa Lemon and Mama Sarah -- they rarely saw one another until 2003, when they began collaborating on the book series, which aims to help fill a need for multicultural children's literature.

"I saw it as something we were meant to do," said Dixon, 41. "Why don't our kids want to read? Because they don't see themselves in the books out there. With Papa Lemon books, we can connect kids with their grandparents, allow them to see themselves in books and make reading fun."

Riley visited his grandparents in Mississippi every summer until Papa Lemon's death in 1973. Twenty years after Papa Lemon died, Riley asked Mama Sarah if he could have his grandfather's dress hat, a fedora that Papa Lemon wore with pride. During his summer visits, "everywhere we went, people knew him," Riley said. "I thought he hung the sun. In my eyes he was such a big man, but when I got the hat and put it on, it fit me like a beanie. He was such a little man, but the way he carried himself ..."

Memories of his grandfather inspired Riley to try writing a children's book. "God spoke to me," said Riley, 43. "He told me to write about my grandfather." Riley, then an assistant manager of distribution for Lutheran Brotherhood (now called Thrivent Financial), pounded out his first draft of the King story. "God gave it to me. I was just the secretary," he said of his first efforts as a children's author.

Together with graduates of the Art Institute International -- illustrator Joshua Wallace and editor Megan Austin -- they published the first book in 2004. Lutheran Brotherhood believed in the project and financed the first 500 copies. The second book, "The Dangerous Escape from Slavery," was published last year. About 3,000 copies of their first two books have been sold. Their newest, "World War II, The Navajo Wind Talkers," has just been published.

Riley and Dixon have left the corporate workplace to devote themselves to their company, Matter of Africa Time Corp. Riley's job was moved to Appleton, Wis., so it seemed like the right time to leave. Dixon also was well-positioned to move on.

"The problem with so many people is that they're afraid to step out of the box, to step out on faith," Dixon said.

To learn more about Papa Lemon books and to see a sample clip of the animated series Riley and Dixon hope to produce, visit papalemonedu.com.

Delma Francis • 612-673-1717