LOCKPORT — Joaunna Bixby loves being a grandmother.
A resident of Lockport for the past 25 years — she’s originally from Oswego County — Bixby has been many things: a greeting card merchandising manager, an exchange student host and, currently, the craftsperson behind Lake Effect Ice Cream’s ice cream cakes.
What she really lives for, though, are her children, her grandchildren, her husband and her dog, she said.
Beyond that? She’s now a published author, having created her first book, “Riding Bicycles with Pops.”
“Something off the old bucket list,” she said, laughing. “I’ve always wanted to write a book.”
The inspiration for the children’s picture book is her husband, Scott, taking two of her grandsons, Lenny and Ezra, for bike rides, Bixby said. The former engineer, who’s now a police officer for University at Buffalo, has a sideline, Blue Line Bicycle Repair, and he’s the only bicycle repair guy in Lockport.
Bixby said she wrote the text of her picture book in a day, then she had to find an illustrator. Her husband’s friend and customer, Mark Culver, agreed to put his hand to the job.
“He’s a super great guy, heavily involved with trails and the bicycling community for years. This book wouldn’t be the same without Greg,” Bixby said.
“Riding Bicycles with Pops” is aimed at 2- to 4-year-old pre-readers and the storyline is mostly about colors; objects from the van to the house to the bikes are very brightly colored. Along the way, “Pops” does tricks on ramps and teaches his grandchildren how to pop wheelies. The Bixby family dog, Cooper, makes an appearance on every page, inviting tots to look for him while they’re being read to.
“As a mom and a grandma you want to ask kids, ‘what color is the van?’ ‘What color is Ezra’s shirt?’ So we incorporated many different colors inside the book … so you can help kids learn, along with teaching them how fun it is to ride bicycles,” Bixby said.
“Riding Bicycles with Pops” was published by Dorrance Publishing.