Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Rivers Johnson. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Rivers, thanks for joining us today. Going back to the beginning – how did you come up with the idea in the first place?

My ideas come from my kids. My character Bodie was born through a need my son had. Bodie is a little corgi whose fur coat changes with his emotions and teaches kids its ok to have emotions and express them.
My son was having problems expressing himself in school. He was coming home with notes from his teachers daily about outbursts of emotion he was having in class. He didn’t like going to school and would cry and fight to stay home. It was heartbreaking and I was close to homeschooling him.
I sat him down and asked him what made him so unhappy at school. He said he would get mad and felt bad saying, “I’m mad at you.” So, he would bottle it up inside till he burst with emotion. I asked if we could figure out a way for him not to feel bad and still get his emotions across. He loves colors and decided color association with emotion would help him get his point across and not feel bad. I brushed off my drawing skills and made him a color chart for his emotions. I drew a picture of him so he could move his picture to his emotion. He loved it and took it to school. His teachers said it helped him relay his emotions when overwhelmed.
A few months went by, and we got the call that the chart was no longer working. When I asked him what was going on and why the chart was not working, he said he didn’t like being alone in his feelings. I asked what would help him not feel so alone and he said he wanted a friend with him on the chart. I expected a dinosaur request as his friend, however he picked a corgi for a friend because of the big ears. I remade the chart, and we had minimal problems for the rest of the school year.
I had a few of his teachers say Bodie was cute, and that I should write a story about him. I enlisted the help of my sister-in-law, Malori Rivera, to help write a story for Bodie. She is an elementary school teacher and used the Zones of Regulations as her guide for the story so we could be of more use to the schools and help more kids.
If it was not for my son needing help with his emotions, I would not have drawn and come up with Bodie. I think if we sit back and watch life unfold, we have great ideas staring us in the face.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I am a children’s book illustrator. I am in the process of finding an agent. For now, I work with self-publishing authors. I love bringing the author’s books to life and seeing their expression when the character they have had in their head comes to life on paper.
I take classes to stay current with the field. I also have a background in animation and media arts.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

When I first started my art journey my goal was to work in animation. I worked and went to school at the time. I was getting into more intense classes and was pulled aside by a counselor and told I had to pick work or school. I was a special needs nanny and I refused to just quit working. I decided at that moment art was not as important as helping this kiddo. So left the art field for a long time. As time went on, I slowly started getting back into art and realized how much I loved books and their pictures. I decided to pivot and pursue illustration.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

When I first started my art journey my goal was to work in animation. I worked and went to school at the time. I was getting into more intense classes and was pulled aside by a counselor and told I had to pick work or school. I was a special needs nanny and I refused to just quit working. I decided at that moment art was not as important as helping this kiddo. So left the art field for a long time. As time went on, I slowly started getting back into art and realized how much I loved books and their pictures. I decided to pivot and pursue illustration.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @rivers_illustration