John Paul Padilla
John Paul Padilla is an
office administrator living in California. He is
active in the International Who's Who in Poetry and is a
Distinguished Member of the International Society of Poets. John
models, has been dancing for the past twelve years, and writes
and records songs. He has previously publishedWings To Cross
An Ocean, an inspirational poetry book. John was inspired to
write Johnny Big Ears, The Feel Good Friend based on his
own childhood experiences with teasing and his time spent
observing students while he was a teacher's aid in an elementary
school.
About the Book: Johnny Big
Ears is just like every other five-year-old child, but when he
starts his first day of kindergarten, children begin to tease
him because of his enormously large ears. Follow Johnny as he
faces the challenges that being different presents. How will
Johnny react to being teased? Find out why Johnny turns out to
be the winner in this endearing, thoughtful book that addresses
typical childhood bullying and offers children advice on how to
deal with teasing.
"Johnny
Big Ears, The Feel-Good Friend by John Paul
Padilla is a well crafted little book with big
lessons to teach..."
PageOneLit.com: Where did you grow up and was reading and writing a
part of your life? Who were your earliest influences and why?
John Paul Padilla: I was born in Los Angeles, California and grew up in
Orange County and San Francisco area. Reading was never really part of
my daily routine other than to do my homework and I admit I didn’t
really like to read unless if I had to. I always loved to write parodies
and play with words to write funny lyrics for my brother as a joke. I
don’t recall many influences growing up besides Dr. Seuss books and Walt
Disney movies like Dumbo and Pinocchio.
Why do you write? I write since it’s my expressive outlet to release
things that normally I could not say while speaking. I would rather
write something than to talk about it. Writing is much easier for me to
express my inner most thoughts and feelings with more details and
confidence!
PageOneLit.com: Briefly describe your book "Johnny Big Ears". What makes
"Johnny Big Ears" different from other children books?
John Paul Padilla: Johnny Big Ears
is about a five-year-old child that starts his first day of kindergarten
and how other children begin to tease him because of his enormously
large ears. It talks about a little boy, Johnny Big Ears, and how he
deals with teasing and bullying, while offering his own personal advice
for other kids who might be confronted in the same situation and how to
come out of that experience a winner! My book is different in the sense
that it’s a new type of book that talks and deals with teasing and
bullying in schools. It’s a new subject that most people don’t talk
about but do relate to it, either personally or with their kids in
school.
PageOneLit.com: Discuss your experiences and research that helped and
motivated you to write "Johnny Big Ears”? Were you bullied as a kid or
knew people who were?
John Paul Padilla: As a kid I got
teased for my big ears since they used to protrude a lot while I was a
kid. I was called Dumbo and it made me self-conscience about my looks.
It affected me so much that I let my hair grown long and even a perm to
cover my ears all the way through high school. I was tired of feeling
insecure and unwanted that at the age of 18, before my senior year, I
decided to have Otoplasty surgery to correct my ears and shape them a
little better. So at a young age I got to experience at firsthand how
cruel kids can be and how it can make one feel insecure about ones looks
to the point that one doesn’t want to go out or hang out with many
people. After I graduated from high school, I worked as a Bilingual
Instructional Aide, while going to college to major in liberal studies.
Now as an adult, I have also witnessed a lot of kids making fun of
others simply for the way they looked, dressed or spoke and it made me
see that no matter where we live, who we are, boy or girl, kids will
always find a way to make up words to hurt us, that tease, and bully us
just to make others feel less popular. I did some research and found out
that between the ages of 6 and 11 year olds, at least 75% of these kids
get teased or bullied in elementary school, that’s a pretty high
percentage. I always loved to write and work with kids and instead about
writing about a fictitious character that no one can really relate to, I
wanted to write about a kid, Johnny Big Ears that anyone who had been
teased or has been teased could relate to and in the process help them
feel good about themselves. I was the original Johnny Big Ears because I
was not only teased for my ears but also for not being into sports and
for liking to sing and dance at a young age, so I have had my share of
teasing and bullying growing up and that’s what motivated me to write
this book. I wanted to show kids that it’s ok to accept themselves no
matter how they look on the outside. I want kids to follow their dreams
and don’t let others teasing stop them from being successful adults.
PageOneLit.com: "Johnny Big Ears" is a story that will help many kids
with self image a bullying problem -- What is your advice to kids that
are bullied daily?
John Paul Padilla: The best advice I can give to kids or anyone who has
been teased is to ignore those bullies and to love themselves no matter
what others say and to simply accept who they are just how they look. We
should see ourselves as a one in a million star and that being different
is what makes us special people and truly stand out from everyone else.
No one should try to change anything about themselves physically, unless
if they are doing it to improve their looks a little and to make
themselves feel more confident but they shouldn’t don’t do it for all
the wrong reasons or to simply try to impress others by doing it. Anyone
that loves us honestly, family or friends will always love us just as we
are and they won’t ever try to change us in any way because they love us
for who we are as people and not how we look on the outside!
PageoneLit.com: "Johnny Big Ears" would make a great TV show for kids
film - If Hollywood called who you select to play the leads and why?
John Paul Padilla: Actually I have seen TV shows and even cartoons and
do see my character Johnny Big Ears made into a kids cartoon movie and
not only being something cute and funny but also with a lesson to teach
kids that’s it’s ok to be who they are. I play around with voices and
even a kid’s voice haha, so I do see the possibility of Johnny Big Ears
being made into a cartoon, and me being one of the voices in the cartoon
series haha. I love Walt Disney and DreamWorks Movies for kids and any
of them both that would be interested would be an honor for me to work
with. I don’t have any particular actors who could be perfect for the
roles if Hollywood would be interested.
PageoneLit.com: Do you think there's too much pressure on their looks
growing up for
Kids?
John Paul Padilla: As a past
educator working with kids and my past experiences as a kid, who grew up
being teased and bullied, I can clearly see that what we see on
magazines and TV does put a lot of pressure on the kids of today. It’s
not only the peer pressure but more so from what they see in the movie
theater, music videos and TV shows. Kids mimic their favorite actors and
singers, not only how they dress but how they look or act and if you
don’t look the part of what’s popular at the time, people tend to look
down upon you and that’s when people start teasing and bullying others
for simply trying to be unique and original. As an adult, I have done
some modeling off and on and I have seen from the other side of the coin
that a nice, clean image does make you get more recognition and
acceptance in any place or situation. When one tends to look better on
the outside or feel good about how one looks, it shows through and it
makes a difference in how we present ourselves and how successful we
tend to be. As a man, who has modeled, I honestly can say that I am not
a perfect human being and I’m the first to admit it, but I have learned
to simply accept who I am, with flaws and all and to work with what I
have and make the best of it to work for me in any situation. Kids that
grow up being secure and accepting themselves at a young age will tend
to be more successful and happier people as adults. So we need to teach
kids at a young age to feel secure and confident about themselves no
matter who they are or look like.
PageOneLit.com: You write songs/lyrics - Any chance for a soundtrack for
"Johnny Big Ears"?
John Paul Padilla: I am not a
musician but I do write lyrics with a melody in mind. I don’t play
instruments but do have experience writing song lyrics. I don’t have any
ideas at the moment for a soundtrack but if the occasion would arise, I
would definitely come up with a song that relates to being accepted and
loving oneself to be the main soundtrack for Johnny Big Ears.
PageOneLit.com: What did you learn from writing "Johnny Big Ears"?
John Paul Padilla: I learned that
most people have been teased and bullied sometime in their lives and
that through me talking about the subject about teasing and bullying it
has opened up people to talk about how they too got teased while they
were younger. People have been sharing their personal stories with me
and why they got teased. So it’s evident that adults who got teased
while they were young are also very much interested in reading to their
kids a book that can both motivate and educate their kids to accept and
tolerate others at a young age.
PageOneLit.com: What do you hope to achieve with "Johnny Big Ears”?
John Paul Padilla: My main focus is
to be able to make kids feel good about themselves and let them know
that everything that they see on TV shows, music videos, or movies is
all make believe at times and they don’t need to try to look like them
but simply try to be yourself. Once kids accept who they are and are
happy kids, surrounded by a loving family than eventually those kids can
pass on the love to others and grew up to be successful and more loving
people towards others. I want Johnny Big Ears to teach kids to love
themselves and for kids to quit trying so hard to please everyone by
trying to change themselves. Once kids start feeling confident and
secure, they are on their way to being successful adults
PageOneLit.com: What's next?
John Paul Padilla: I am currently
having a Johnny Big Ears costume made so I can wear it once I start
making appearances to talk about my book. I have been asked to be a
guest speaker at schools locally already to talk about bullying and
teasing and about my book. I want to see
Johnny Big Ears, become and Icon, a
household name that once kids or parents hear it they know that all you
need to be happy is to feel good about yourself and eventually someday
down the future see a kid’s cartoon on the big screen or TV show, that
carries the same values and acceptance to teach kids self love for
themselves and others.
PageOneLit.com: What was the last book you read?
John Paul Padilla: The Secret
PageOneLit.com: Do you have any hobbies? What are they? How do they
enhance your writing?
John Paul Padilla: Besides writing
and modeling, I also dance. I have been dancing for the past 12 years
from freestyle to the Nutcracker Suite. I have been Uncle Drosselmeyer
for many years now while performing the Nutcracker and I love to work
with kids. I would love to eventually do some sort of music video or
performance as dancer wearing the Johnny Big Ears costume to perform
with kids for kids and not only entertain but also educate them about
self-love, acceptance and how to deal with bullying and teasing.
