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.
“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.
“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
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.
This blog is about clicker training horses. That’s what you expect to see here, so why am I writing about children’s books? The easy answer is everything is connected to everything else.
I’m guessing many of you reading these posts have read C.S. Lewis’ Narnia books.
My favorite quote from Lewis is this:
“When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty, I read them openly.” C.S. Lewis
I don’t know how old I was when I first read that quote, probably eight or nine. I have remembered it always because I never stopped reading children’s books.
I was three the first time Lewis’ “The Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe” was read to me. Four when Tolkien’s “The Hobbit” was read to me. The magic in those books wound it’s way into my heart and has remained there always.
Another great quote from Lewis is this one: “No book is really worth reading at the age of 10 which is not equally – and often far more – worth worth reading at the age of fifty and beyond.“ C.S. Lewis
These days the world is in a terrible muddle. Everywhere you look in the news there is conflict, there are disasters, there is such great sadness. So another great quote from C.S. Lewis is Puddleglum’s speech to the Witch Queen of the Underland, in Chapter 12 of “The Silver Chair”. Those of you who are familiar with the books will know who Puddleglum is. He’s a Marsh Wiggle, a creature who always believes that the gloomiest, worst possible outcome is also the most likely. For those of you who haven’t yet read Lewis’ children’s books, he is one of the great characters in all literature.
Puddleglum from “The Silver Chair”
Here’s the quote:
“One word. All you’ve been saying is quite right, I shouldn’t wonder. I’m a chap who always liked to know the worst and then put the best face I can on it. So I won’t deny any of what you said. But there’s one thing more to be said, even so. Suppose we have only dreamed, or made up, all those things – trees and grass and sun and moon and stars and Aslan himself. Suppose we have. Then all I can say is that, in that case, the made-up things seem a good deal more important than the real ones. Suppose this black pit of a kingdom of yours is the only world. Well, it strikes me as a pretty poor one. And that’s a funny thing, when you come to think of it. We’re just babies making up a game, if you’re right. But four babies playing a game can make a play-world that licks your real world hollow. That’s why I’m going to stand by the play-world. I’m on Aslan’s side even if there isn’t any Aslan to lead it. I’m going to live as like a Narnian as I can even if there isn’t any Narnia. So, thanking you kindly for our supper, if these two gentlemen and the young lady are ready, we’re leaving your court at once and setting out in the dark to spend our lives looking for Overland. Not that our lives will be very long, I should think; but that’s small loss if the world’s as dull a place as you say.” C.S. Lewis: Puddlegum’s speach to the Witch-Queen of Underland in Chapter Twelve: The Queen of the Underland – The Silver Chair.
When I was little we had duck and cover drills in school in the event of a nuclear bomb. Nowadays, students have duck and cover drills in case there’s an active shooter in their school. The threats have come closer and become more real. It’s a grim world. So I’m with Puddleglum. I’m going to live as like a Narnian as I can even if there isn’t any Narnia.
That’s the connection between clicker training horses and children’s books. It’s the connection between the magic of being able to talk to our horses and the reality of clicker training.
When I was little, there were never enough of the kind of books I loved to read. I read the Narnia series over and over again, but I wanted more, so I began to write my own stories. I have a collection of them tucked away that I am have begun to publish.
I’ve begun with the Kenyon Bear Books. The first book, “Teddies to the Rescue” was written in 1985 and was published originally in 1986. It began as a Christmas present for my mother.
In 2023 I reissued the book. “Teddies” is a chapter book with pictures. My illustrator, Mark Kenyon was a gifted artist. His mother made the bears, so yes, there was a family connection with Kenyon Bear.
When we were first talking about creating a book, we discovered that we were both drawn to the pen and ink drawings from our favorite books that we read when we were little. These are not modern books with characters looking like they came from a Disney movie. These are books for children (and adults) who love to dream.
From “Teddies To The Rescue”
“Teddies to the Rescue” is book 1 in the series. Next came “Edgar the Bear Who Wanted to be Real”, and “Sara’s Story, the Bear Nobody Wanted”. Those were the original Kenyon Bear Books published in the 1980’s.
Last year I added “Kenyon Bear’s Christmas” with drawings by Christa Culbert.
And now finally, I am delighted to be adding “Wishing Well Magic” to the series.
Sue Hall, a long time client and friend did the drawings. So I’ve had the pleasure of seeing Kenyon and the rest of the bears imagined by four different artists. Each one has brought their own sense of whimsy and magic to the drawings to create a world children will love.
If you have little ones you are reading to, these chapter books make great bedtime stories. If you are giving them to a young reader, don’t be surprised if you find the book tucked under their pillows as they fall asleep. That’s where all the favorite books belong.
So do visit my web site, theclickercenter.com or order them on-line through Amazon. Help me turn “Wishing Well Magic” and all the other Kenyon Bear Books into best sellers.
Book announcements – that’s the “it” I’m referring to in the title. I do them all wrong. I know this. I’ve read various “how-to’s” for launching a new book in this digital age. I’ve received plenty of the emails that are meant to make me feel as though I am missing out on the greatest secret, the best bargain, the most amazing opportunity if I don’t hit the “buy now” button in the next five minutes. They’re counting down the minutes even as I hesitate. If still need convincing, here’s what they’re going to add to this amazing, one time only offer.
We’ve all gotten these emails. As an author, many of them are telling me how I can turn my books into best sellers if I will only follow their sure-fire, guaranteed-to-succeed formula. Of course, I want success for my books. I want them to be read.
When I was in the home stretch with “Wishing Well Magic”, I succumbed to one of these offers, just to see what I was missing. Ugh.
That’s all I can say. I would rather sell zero books than sell them that way.
So I am going to market the Kenyon Bear books in the only way I know how. I’m going to do it in the same way that I shared clicker training with all of you. I’m going to begin by believing in the books. I believed in clicker training – not in the way that people mean when they say they believe in the tooth fairy. I knew clicker training worked. I had the evidence not just in my own horses, but in all of my clients’ horses. I knew it was different. I had seen Peregrine stop locking in his stifles after eight years of struggling to make his body work. He didn’t outgrow the problem. He changed how he used his back. Clicker training gave him the agency to own those changes.
I knew clicker training connected me to my horses in a way that was completely different from anything I had experienced up to that point. It was a difference that was hard to describe. How do you describe the colors of a rainbow to someone who has been blind their whole life? Does their understanding of your metaphors come anywhere close to what you experience?
But enough of you became curious about clicker training and gave it a try. I know some people made a mess of things and gave up on it, but many more of you figured it out. You went out to your barns with your pockets filled with treats. Just as I did so many decades ago, you introduced your horses to clicker training. I shared and you shared, and pretty soon people all around the planet were clicker training their horses.
Clicker training is different. It doesn’t look anything like regular horse training. We use treats! We let our horses say “no” to us. We start with protective contact. We hold targets up for our horses to touch. We train in ridiculously small steps – and we change our horses’ lives.
My children’s books are very similar. They don’t fit the mold of what a children’s book should look like. My characters aren’t super heroes out saving the world, but then neither was Winnie the Pooh or Paddington Bear.
I’m not a parent. I didn’t write stories to teach children lessons I wanted them to learn. I write stories I would have wanted to read when I was little – stories that never betray the magic.
You trusted me when I told you clicker training was worth exploring. I’d like you to trust me again with the Kenyon Bear books. These are books children want to read over and over again. They are books they will tuck under pillow as they fall asleep. How do I know? Because when the first three books were published in the 1980’s, that’s what parents told me.
I set the children’s books to the side so I could concentrate on clicker training. That work is on going. There is always more to be learned. You gave clicker training a try for your study-of-one horses. Now I want you to give the Kenyon Bear Books a try for the study-of-one young readers in your life.
“Wishing Well Magic” is book five in the series. It is about Indy – short for Independence. Indy is a bear with Ideas – ideas that end up getting him in a lot of trouble.
You can order the new book through my web site: theclickercenter.com or from Amazon. When you order through Amazon, do please leave a review. Your five star reviews attract the attention of the algorithms which in turn means more people will find the books.
There, I’ve done everything wrong. I’ve written a long post about the books which was actually more about clicker training than it was about the children’s books. I didn’t offer you special deals. I’m not doing anything the marketers are telling me I need to do to beat the Amazon algorithms.
What I am doing is writing really good stories, stories I would have read and loved when I was little. So if you have young readers in your life, or, like me, you still read with pleasure books that the library puts in the children’s book section, do check out the Kenyon Bear Books. All five books in the series are now available at theclickercenter.com or on Amazon.
I have just published a new book! Wishing Well Magic, Book 5 in the Kenyon Bear Series is now available.
What are you wishing for this summer?
If you are a bear named Indy you are wishing for Adventure.
Indy is a teddy bear with Ideas who loves to play pranks on his friends in the Shuttle Hill Herb Shop. When the bears build a wishing well, Indy fools the others into thinking the shop has been invaded by a dragon.
But it’s Indy who gets the real surprise. Both the magic and the dragon turn out to be real.
Always ready for fun, Indy ignores Kenyon’s warnings as he sets off on an adventure outside of the shop. His friends must follow him and rescue him from the many mishaps he tumbles into.
Read his story in the newest of the Kenyon Bear Books
Book Four in The Kenyon Bear Series of Children’s Books
Written by Alexandra Kurland With Drawings by Christa Culbert
The story begins with some grim news. The shop owner tells Kenyon that she is going to retire and close the shop right after Christmas.
Kenyon Bear’s Christmas is an illustrated chapter book. It is a perfect story to share with young children as they count down the days before Christmas.
To learn more about all the Kenyon Bear Books visit the Bear Hollow Press section of my web site: theclickercenter.com
Help me celebrate the publication of Book 4 in the Kenyon Bear Series of Children’s books. “Kenyon Bear’s Christmas” has just been published! Order your copy today!
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