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.

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.

“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.

Dream well, train well.