PRESCOTT – The adventure of a lifetime has culminated in a children’s book, written and illustrated by two former Prescott teachers and good friends.

Kelly Johnson and Jean Halverson will present their book and read from it at 1 p.m. Sunday, June 2 at Freedom Park’s Great River Road Visitor & Learning Center (200 Monroe St., Prescott). The book’s launch is something the women have been looking forward to for months.

Johnson, who retired from Prescott School District at the urging of husband Dave (the pair owned Ace Hardware in River Falls), turned their travel experiences aboard their boat, Johnson & Johnson, into a unique children’s book, with material taken directly from her blog and their photos.

The Johnsons bought a boat in Annapolis, Md. And christened it Johnson & Johnson. They knew they wanted to eventually take the boat to Florida, but decided to bring it home to Wisconsin first. So they flew out to Maryland and boarded their new boat to bring it home.

What was just a plan to bring the boat home turned into a grand plan to cruise the Great Loop, which according to Johnson, “is a continuous waterway that recreational mariners can travel that includes part of the Atlantic, Gulf Intracoastal Waterways, the Great Lakes, Canadian Heritage Canals and inland rivers.” The Great Loop is 6,000 miles long and takes about one year to complete.

“The whole eastern United States is like one big island,” Johnson said. “We weren’t setting out to do the loop necessarily; we just were getting the boat home.”

In 2017, they cruised the boat down to Ft. Meyers, Fla. During their travels, Johnson posted a blog online, complete with photos. The only portion of the loop the pair did not complete was from a little north of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. to Annapolis.

“Every day was this adventure,” Johnson said. “I’m blogging, we get down to Florida and I thought, ‘now what?’ After 77 days of cruising and now what?”

She broached the idea of writing a book to Dave, who wasn’t convinced at first. She needed more substance in her life, something to work on.

“I thought, ‘this retirement thing is great, but I need something more,’” Johnson said.

During their time on the boat, the Johnsons met other Loopers and made many new friends. One day, one of those new friends, Mimi, was Facetiming with her grandson, telling him where they were. He ran from the call to fetch his map so he could pinpoint his grandparents’ location on the Great Loop. That’s when the idea clicked in Johnson’s mind: A children’s book comprised of old school letters from Mimi and Papa to their granddaughter, Sandy.

“I was thinking, ‘this could be it!’” Johnson said. “He kept a map at home of their journeys. Not many kids get letters anymore.”

She knew she could write the book, but art and drawing are not her forte. She turned to friend and retired Prescott educator Halverson for help. She had always admired Halverson’s classroom at Malone Elementary, which was always the most decorative and creative, she said.

Halverson thought about the proposition for about five minutes before she agreed to the challenge. After all, art had been a big part of her life for as long as she could remember.

“Every Christmas, my uncle Glen would bring some kind of craft kit for me,” Halverson said. “I looked forward to that gift more than any other Christmas gift. We didn’t have a lot of money, so I created a lot of things, like paper dolls from the Sears catalog. I loved doing that. I liked to change my bedroom into a restaurant or a classroom. I went on to college and my big goal was to make my lesson plans motivating for kids' learning by using visual aids.”

During summer school, Halverson taught students arts and crafts; some of those techniques, such as paier mache, are used in the book’s illustrations. Halverson’s characters are 3D and use all sorts of materials, such as tissue paper, glitter, doll hair, rocks, nets and real photos.

“The best part about this was when I showed this to Kelly, she gave me the freedom to design these characters,” Halverson said. “She did say, ‘now, you have to remember a Mimi and Papa are at an age where they are taking this on.’”

Kelly’s favorite illustration is Halverson’s Mangrove tree.

“Just when I think you’ve outdone yourself, you do it again,” she marveled.

Halverson and Johnson decided the main character should be a girl, since boys often are featured in maritime books. They also focused on the major waterways that the Johnsons traveled.

“Each waterway, what can I highlight that would be fun, interesting or educational. Once I wrote the letter, I sent it over to Jean, shared the part of the blog I took it from and gave her photos to consider using,” Johnson said. “I can barely draw a stick figure.”

The pair, who worked on the book for four years, wanted to tie in some educational pieces to the book too. They created a glossary and highlighted words. They made sure to incorporate elements of math, history, art and cooking. The book is geared toward ages 7-77.

“We definitely geared it toward middle to upper elementary or middle school, but any age would find it pretty fascinating,” Johnson said. “It’s meant to be read letter by letter and digest each section.”

“When I taught second grade, I did a unit on Prescott history,” Halverson said. “The Confluence, the Mississippi and St. Croix were really important. When Kelly was writing this, I told her I would have used it in my classroom.”

Readers will not only learn about the Great Loop; they will gain knowledge about America’s rivers and Great Lakes, how lock and dam systems work, flying carp, the history of the Civil War, different types of ships and bridges and more.

By Spring 2023, they knew they were almost finished with the book. After much research, they decided to publish the book through Lulu Self Publishing. This led to a whirlwind of learning how to apply for copyrights and an ISBN number. They went to White Bear Press Publications for help with learning about graphic design. Great Rivers Printing in Prescott also provided invaluable help in the process, especially with the photos. Malone Media Specialist Erica Keezer provided insights as well, while Krystina and Nick Perricelli built the book’s domain and website.

This success comes with some sadness. Kelly’s husband Dave died last October of a sudden heart attack. She’s grateful he knew the book had been dedicated to him. He found out by accident before she told him.

“He gave me the love for the cruising lifestyle,” Johnson said. “We were going to have a party to celebrate and let him know (about the dedication). He was very humble and didn’t like the spotlight. I didn’t know how it would sit with him.”

But everything came to a halt when he died. More than 900 people attended his celebration of life. Johnson said she couldn’t have made it through that terrible time without her two married daughters and the community. She’s grateful Dave met their first grandchild and took her on her first boat ride one month before he died. He lives on in the book’s story as Papa.

While the women aren’t sure they’ll write another book, they say anything can happen, especially since they enjoy traveling on their own adventures together. “Grandma and Grandpa’s Great Loop Adventure” is available at Freedom Park, and on the Great Loop and Lulu websites.