Once Upon A Rhyme
Debi Chimenti Brings Kid Klown Back to Life…
Redding author Debi Chimenti recently launched the newest version of her children’s book, “Kid Klown and the Butterfly Adventures,” which has been stealing the hearts of kids (and their parents) all over the North State and beyond.
While raising four boys in four different states from Massachusetts to California, Debi and her husband Joe (also an author) always encouraged a whimsical sense of play and adventure within her family. When her first two boys were around 4 and 5 years old, they’d wake up early and go into her room, and she’d start telling them stories, which is how Kid Klown came about.
“I always thought of myself as a mom first who came up with a story and then created it into book form,” she says. “In each state we had one boy; after our second kid, the book came together,” Debi adds. Kid Klown was originally a clown based at a circus who went on little adventures. When the Chimentis moved to Minnesota, Debi published “Kid Klown” and did book signings in Target stores. They later moved to Colorado where they had another son, and the Kid Klown story continued to evolve.
When Debi realized that kids don’t really like clowns, she changed the character to a young boy and made the book bigger with brighter colors. Debi continued to market the book here and there, but Kid Klown took on new life when the Chimentis relocated to California. They published the next run of the full-color double-sided Kid Klown book in the late ‘90s, but Kid Klown laid dormant for a while as she raised her youngest son.
“Every day raising boys that were so adventurous…everything they touched turned into mud or dirt or a car,” she says. “And I’ve always tried to tell my kids that you don’t have to be afraid to talk to someone you don’t know. The kids were always moving as we were changing places – we moved every three years – and they had to adapt.”
In the newest version, Kid Klown meets a caterpillar who turns into a butterfly, and they go on adventures together.
Flash forward two-and-a-half decades, and all her boys are grown men now. Debi’s youngest son’s girlfriend, Cassidy Lee, is a watercolor illustrator, and they began working together to improve Kid Klown and his story.
“When she showed me the new iteration of Kid Klown, it just blew me away. He has strong features; it looks just like our kids,” Debi says.
When asked how Debi came up with the poems, she replied, “I rhyme everything. My kids think it’s corny. I can come up with a greeting card poem in five minutes. So, with this book I wanted to be careful with the colors and words and really want to make it cohesive. And with Cass, it’s great.”
Meanwhile, her husband Joe had just published a humorous memoir with one of his friends titled “Thai Hut Tuesdays,” and she learned a lot from his publishing journey. “Joe was my biggest supporter. He’s written songs about Kid Klown and told me I should write a book. Joe and his buddy wrote ‘Thai Hut Tuesdays,’ and when they were successful with it, that was my inspiration to get ‘Kid Klown’ done and do it right,” Debi says.
Thai Hut Tuesdays are bite-sized stories about a 30-year friendship, family and lessons learned along the way. “This is from them being parents and dads, and yes, I’m in it, and all the boys are in it,” Debi says.
When asked how it’s received by kids, she says her 3-year-old and 5-year-old grandkids love it. “When they come to book signings, their eyes get wide. They’re so proud of the book. I also have a six-month-old granddaughter, and her dad reads it to her every night. She just shakes she gets so excited when you read it to her. I made this version bright and colorful and I think all those things make an impact. I’ve being doing some branding, going to book signings. Right now, my hope is to continue getting the book out there, share it with the world, and then God willing I do write the next one,” Debi smiles. •
“Kid Klown and The Butterfly Adventures”
Sold locally at Ferris Wheel Kids,
Turtle Bay Exploration Park and
Shop Around the Corner Books
www.kidklownadventures.com
