Last July, Linda Lampkin of Appleton City went to get an eye exam at an optometrist’s office in Butler. There, she met Amanda Goodwin, the office manager, and asked her about herself. Amanda replied “I’m a writer and illustrator of children’s books.”
Linda responded: “I have an idea!”
Linda is an Appleton City resident and historian who, when she found out the carnival that had come to Appleton City Fair had closed, went and bought the carousel in 2021. By 2023, Linda had bought and cleared two lots of the main street of town, designed an octagonal gazebo with sides like overhead garage doors to house it, and installed the carousel in it.
In May of 2023, the Appleton City Carousel opened. In 2024, it was voted the best kid-friendly attraction in Missouri by readers of “Rural Missouri” for the magazine’s “Best of” listings.
The Appleton City landmark is also the favorite carousel in the world of Tuck, a main character in Amanda’s book, “Let’s Go Ride Carousels Together,” an interactive book written and illustrated by Amanda, and inspired by Linda.
Tuck is based on Amanda’s grandson, who lives in Kansas. Tuck says that the Appleton City Carousel is his favorite one in the world because of Linda, who cared enough to save it for the local children who had ridden it at the city fair every year and their families.
On Saturday, Dec. 5, author Amanda Goodwin and Linda will hold a book-signing from 10 a.m. to non at the Appleton City Library for “Let’s Go Ride Carousels.” The book comes in two versions, hardback ($25) and a soft-cover back-pack size ($10). The cover of the book states that it was inspired by Linda Lampkin, with her photo on the inside page. The Appleton City Carousel is featured on several pages of the book, with other town landmarks, including the AC water tower with the school mascot, the Bulldog, in the background.
Amanda said becoming a book author and illustrator was the result of moving into an apartment in Butler in 2023. The apartment had all white walls, she said, which she was not allowed to paint. So she got out some canvases and started painting colorful pictures. People told her the pictures should be in children’s books, so when she was contacted by an author in Kansas City about illustrating a book, she agreed.
The collaboration did not work out.
“It was obvious from the first that we were not working on the same book,” Amanda said.
So she started writing her own books. She’s now on number 19 of the Let’s Go Together books, which come in three series: one focusing on transportation, one on architecture and the latest series, on food and fellowship. In all the books, the characters go together all around the world and explore other cultures.
Amanda’s current project combines the last two themes, and is about buildings that look like food: the picnic basket building in Ohio, the former headquarters of the Longaberger Company, the teapot museum in China. The premise of the book: Pawpaw, based on Amanda’s father, and Tuck are planning the perfect picnic. Her father, a United Methodist minister who served churches in West Central Missouri, died last year, Amanda said.
Another Let’s Go book, “Let’s Go on a Christmas Mission,” honors Amanda’s grandmother. Every year, her grandmother started making Christmas treats at Halloween to give away to people in her town of Greenfield, Mo. Tuck and his friends continue her tradition of spreading holiday cheer by making Grandmother’s recipes and giving out the treats.
Another book describes how hobbies can be used to benefit and improve the world —Imka, the character from South Africa, combines bird-watching with habitat clean-up.
Amanda’s mother’s cause is promoting children’s literacy. Amanda offers packs of “Let’s Go” books, travel packs and globetrotter guides for classrooms, libraries and museums featuring explorers from different cultures. “Let’s Go” books are written for ages 4 through 10, pre-K through 4th grade.
Amanda has not been to all the countries featured in her books, but likes to travel and has visited 49 of the 50 states.
“I love to do research, I love to discover interesting tidbits of information, and I love to share those discoveries,” Amanda said.
What she learned writing “Let’s Go Ride Carousels: that carousels used to be pulled horses to make them spin. And that carousels go counterclockwise in England and clockwise in the United States?
In Japan’s Aqua Park, there’s a carousel with dolphins, penguins and seashells. One in Italy has chandeliers for lighting and gold leaf trim on the animals. Argentina has a carousel where you can still try to grab a brass ring. There are six carousels in the town of Birminghamton, New York.
The oldest carousel in the world in Germany, with the animals made of carved wood. Amanda’s goal is to ride her favorite, the carousel in France, but her timing would have to be right.
“A lot of them are like mine, only open in the summer,” Linda said.
Linda operates the Appleton City Carousel on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., from Memorial weekend through the Sunday of Labor Day weekend. To avoid making change, she accepts any paper bill for a ride to help defray expenses. She has a list of safety regulations — no sandals or wet swimsuits allowed. The carousel is a menagerie model, with 18 animals, but no tiger. So Amanda added a tiger in one of the illustrations.
Amanda's grandson, who lives in Kansas, has not ridden the Appleton City Carousel yet, but some day she’ll get him on it. Linda has logged people from 35 states and six countries who have ridden the Appleton City Carousel. Teenagers tell Linda it is more fun to ride than the carousels at the Kansas City Zoo and the Missouri State Fair because the AC carousel goes faster.
Linda said she tried to get it adjusted to go slower, and then discovered if enough riders are on it, their weight slows the ride down.
Amanda Goodwin's “Let’s Go” books are available on Amazon, through Walmart and Barnes and Noble. She also designs and sells jigsaw puzzles, playing cards and table-top games. For the Dec. 5 book signing at the Appleton City Library, she has created a special carousel-themed tote bag ($20) with the book, a related game and other goodies. It’s a gift that’s ready to go.
The book signing at the Appleton City Library, 105 W. 4th, is December 5, from 10 a.m. to noon, and is the same Saturday as Christmas in the Country at the Appleton City Depot from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The “Let’s Go” books are interactive — in the carousel book, there are hidden horses to look for and fun facts. Other books in the series feature checklists for visiting the different sites.
"You can just read the fun facts to keep it moving," she said. "
Amanda still works at the optometrist’s office in Butler, as she has for 28 years, but wishes she had more time to write and illustrate books.
“I have so many ideas,” she said. “I have spreadsheets of them.”
But the idea behind them is the same.
“They’re all about doing things together and spending time together,” she said.
All of Amanda’s “Let’s Go” books are available to read free online. She also created printable activities for her “Weeks of Worldly Wonders” online program. Contact her at amandagoodwin@letsgotogetherbooks.com.
