Joe Kimble

Joe Kimble is the author of "Mr. Mouthful," an award-winning children's book. In his own words:

I’m a teacher, a grandfather, and a collector of blues and rock art. I grew up in the small town of Linden, Michigan, where I spent many hours in the public library over the fire station.

Then college (Amherst). Then law school (Michigan). And then I taught legal writing for 35 years at Western Michigan University–Cooley Law School. I’m proud of having won several national and international awards for my work in promoting clarity in public communication. After publishing three law books on plain language, I decided to try my hand at a children’s picture book—just for fun.

I think readers will get a kick out of the misadventures of Mr. Mouthful, who doesn’t know how to talk with kids. He loves big words but doesn’t understand that plain words are usually best in everyday life. It’s good to have a big vocabulary; it’s another thing to go around showing it off.