Month: October 2025

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The Upstairs Armadillo Tells His Story

I learned a long time ago that when stories come to you, you need to let them. If you say you’re busy and you’ll get to it later, the story will go away and it won’t come back. It will find someone else.

The upstairs armadillo had waited a long time for someone in my family to tell his story. So I sat down at the computer and began to write. This book and the others in the Upstairs Armadillo Series are the result.

My mother was the first one who saw the upstairs armadillo, but these aren’t the stories she shared with me. That was many years ago. The upstairs armadillo has had many new adventures since then. These are the stories he shared with me.

I wrote the first one soon after my tree sat down on my house. That was in the fall of 2020. Then things got busy. Over the winter I started writing “Modern Horse Training“. That took up all my writing time for the next year. “Modern Horse Training” was published in the spring of 2022. By then I was in the midst of designing my on-line clinics to fit into a post covid world, but I was eager to get back to the Upstairs Armadillo. I knew he was waiting – not all that patiently for me. He wasn’t hiding in my sock drawer, but I knew as soon as I started writing again, he’d make himself known.

I had so much fun writing “Never Get A Wizard Mad At You” that I began book two almost at once. And that lead to books three and four which were even more fun to write. I probably would have raced on to book five at that point, but the horses were calling and I needed to finish the Kenyon Bear series. “Wishing Well Magic” still needed to be illustrated. That took the better part of 2024. “Wishing Well Magic” came out earlier this year. So now it’s finally time for the Upstairs Armadillo to make an appearance.

“Never Get A Wizard Mad At You” is Book one in the Upstairs Armadillo series. You can order it on my web site: theclickercenter.com. And of course it is also available through Amazon and other on-line book sellers.

When you visit my web site, go to the tab for Bear Hollow Press. That’s where you’ll find all my children’s books.

The Kenyon Bear Books are chapter books with lots of pictures. The Upstairs Armadillo books are longer chapter books. Think Paddington Bear, Knight’s Castle, Green Smoke, and of course C.S. Lewis’ Narnia books and you’ll have the right age range.

I hope you’ll share them with the young readers in your life. And do please leave a five star review to help others find the books.

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The Tree That Sat Down

“Never Get A Wizard Mad At You”
Book One in the Upstairs Armadillo Series

My new book begins when the upstairs armadillo is discovered in Emma’s sock drawer.

The upstairs armadillo is not a character I invented.

My mother was the first one to see Charles Alexander and the upstairs armadillo. When I was little, she would tell me stories about Charles Alexander and the upstairs armadillo. They lived in her house when she was growing up and together they created a great deal of mischief.

That was many years ago. Fast forward to the fall of 2020. During a wind storm one of the trees behind my house got tired and sat down. Unfortunately, when the tree sat down, it lost it’s balance and fell onto my house.

I came home in the evening to find it’s branches poking into my office and the rain pouring in. What a mess!

The tree that sat down on my house.
Tree being craned off of the house.
Repairs underway

Everything had to be taken out. Most of the furniture was beyond saving, but somehow the stacks of papers and boxes of files that were stored in that room escaped unharmed.

When I was sorting through them, I found a large envelop that I had forgotten I had. It must have been twenty years or more since I had last looked at it It contained a story my mother had written about the upstairs armadillo and Charles Alexander.

I read the story. It wasn’t very long. It was really just the beginning of a story. That night I fell asleep thinking about the upstairs armadillo and Charles Alexander. In the morning I began writing.

The result was “Never Get A Wizard Mad At You” Book One in the Upstairs Armadillo Series.

It is available through my web site: theclickercenter.com
And through Amazon. Get it as an ebook through Kindle Unlimited.

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Introducing The Upstairs Armadillo

“Never Get A Wizard Mad At You”
Book One in the Upstairs Armadillo Series

This is a very different sort of book from the Kenyon Bear books. Those stories are designed to be read aloud to young children. They are chapter books with lots of pictures. The upstairs armadillo books are adventure stories with lots of magic, and lots of fun surprises – but no pictures. Those you get to create in your head as you read the book.

The Wizard’s favorite pet, an upstairs armadillo, is missing.  He must be found!  The hunt is on, though Emma, Jane, and Anthony don’t yet know it.

Somehow the upstairs armadillo has ended up in Emma’s sock drawer.  She’s not sure what he is or how he got there.  And she doesn’t realize that she and her sister Jane have accidentally invited the upstairs armadillo’s favorite friends to a tea party.

Her bedroom quickly becomes overcrowded when a goat, several sheep, a giraffe, a hare, and a whole alphabet full of other animals pop in for cake and games.  Their parents must not find out!

Charles Alexander, their resident poltergeist, refuses to help. When the family dog sniffs out the tea party, chaos follows. The hunt for the upstairs armadillo takes the children tumbling down meerkat tunnels, stumbling across penguins in Antarctic, splashing about in beaver ponds, and trekking across a desert on the back of a camel – all while being pursued by a very angry Wizard.

Order Now through my web site: theclickercenter.com

“Never Get A Wizard Mad At You” is available in Paperback and Hardcover: 165 pages

It is also available as an ebook through Amazon Kindle

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A New Book!

Never Get A Wizard Mad At You
Book One in the Upstairs Armadillo Series

I am delighted to announce that I have a new book out.

My mother was the first one to see Charles Alexander and the upstairs armadillo. I don’t remember how old I was when she first told me about them, maybe six or seven. It was before we converted the attic over the garage into a bedroom. I remember that because we used the attic as a painting studio. I drew dragons, wonderful fiery red, fierce dragons, while my mother told me stories about Charles Alexander and the upstairs armadillo. They lived in her house when she was little.

That was many years ago. Fast forward to 2020, the covid year. In October my area was hit by a wind storm that went on for hours. One of the trees behind my house got tired and sat down. Unfortunately, when the tree sat down, it lost it’s balance and fell against my house. It took the roof out. I came home in the evening to find it’s branches poking into my office and the rain pouring in. What a mess!

Everything had to be taken out. Most of the furniture was beyond saving, but somehow the stacks of papers and boxes of files that were stored in that room escaped unharmed.

When I was sorting through them, I found a large envelop that I had forgotten I had. It must have been twenty years or more since I had last seen it. It contained a story my mother had written about the upstairs armadillo and Charles Alexander.

I read the story. It wasn’t very long. It was really just the beginning of a story. That night I fell asleep thinking about the upstairs armadillo and Charles Alexander. In the morning I began writing.

I learned a long time ago that when stories come to you, you need to let them. If you say you’re busy and you’ll get to it later, the story will go away and it won’t come back. It will find someone else.

The upstairs armadillo had waited a long time for someone in my family to tell his story. So I sat down at the computer and began to write. This book and the others in the Upstairs Armadillo Series are the result.

They aren’t the stories my mother told me. That was many years ago. Charles Alexander and the upstairs armadillo have had many new adventures since then. These are the stories they shared with me.

“Never Get A Wizard Mad At You” is Book one in the Upstairs Armadillo series. You can order it on my web site: theclickercenter.com. And of course it is also available through Amazon and other on-line book sellers. On Amazon the book is available as an ebook through kindle unlimited. That means for kindle subscribers you get to read the book for free. If you’re curious about the sort of children’s books that I write, this is a great way to find out.

I love the Upstairs Armadillo stories. I hope you’ll share them with the young readers in your life. And do please leave reviews for the books so others can find them.