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Well, friends, we’re finally here. It took a while, it took some persistence to get the books out, and after a few delays we did it. An Adventure in a Shell is finally here and available on Amazon and on Mascot books.

The inspiration for this one came from my love of all things North American, including one of natures most beautiful animals- the North American Painted Turtle. I’ve had the pleasure of exploring much of the Northwest, where I hail from, and it is something truly incredible to see little families of these, as well as lone little walkers, crossing the streets or swimming in the lakes and rivers up there.

As a small business during this time it’s always a bit of a challenge to stay afloat, but please give us as much support as you can, even if it’s liking and sharing our Facebook or Instagram page, and spreading the word. We love to bring as much joy and pleasure in reading as possible, and encouraging your little ones to love books. We also want to show our support of local authors, as well as American-born stories.

Thank you so much. Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year from our family to yours!

Everyone thinks it’s so easy being a flea, but we really have it very hard. It’s not easy finding a rat or a dog to ride on and when you find a place to hang out for a while someone wants to evict you from between your set of hairs. Oh well I guess, that’s the lot of a flea.

I was riding on a doggo the other day, he was very nice and very nice looking. He was brown, I don’t know his name, but he had short hair and a very nice face. His coat was warm too. I get very cold floating around the air and occasionally jumping to another side of an animal that I’m riding, or changing from one steed to another. The worst part is when they bite themselves, but he didn’t do that or scratch himself too often.

Last Thursday, though, I was riding a big mangy rat. It was very nice actually, because he didn’t scratch himself much and didn’t seem to care much about the mange. This is the best part in my opinion. I asked Florence from the grove of hair near the tail if she would accompany me to a feast in one of the clumps. She said yes of course. Not because I have much personal prowess, but because I have a very nice grove of my own in quite a desirable part of the haunch.

We dined at dusk when we would be assured of the least amount of movement. I do hate it when the mange comes loose while moving and you have to find a new steed and a new place to make one’s home. It was quite lovely…that is until she died on me. I do wish we lived longer. Just as soon as we hit our prime we die. Well, all I can hope for is that I don’t see it coming. I don’t want to get on an animal with the plague, but I would like to go quickly. Maybe in a torrent of a dog bath, flushed down a drain or blown out into the hot air where I’m knocked out and never know what hit me.

ACHEW!!! Exguse me. The flowers are blooming right now and I’ve got the sneezes really bad today. Mom says they should stop blooming as much, but because of the sneezing I’ve been sleeping in our play cave. It’s fun. I get to sleep on the gold and I don’t burn any places down when I sneeze.

Burning things down is actually how I met my friend Ivan, that giant snake I was telling you about. I went way up north to a really cold place where I was helping to stop some more of those gross red and yellow haired people from breaking into a dragon village and stealing their stuff. They hurt a bunch of them too.

Mom didn’t want me to go at first. She doesn’t like me to go very far away from home and this was a long way to fly. Well, Dr. Dragon was going up there to treat a dragon with Excessively Long Claws disease. He was the only person who knew how to cut the claws right so the dragon could walk around again. He is a very nice doctor.

I flew up there with the doctor who mom trusts a lot, and when we got there things were pretty quiet. I stayed with a very nice family who lived in a rock house, just in case I sneezed or blew fire in my sleep. I slept very well because it was so cold outside and so warm inside. It was still before the snow and I was a bit sad because I wanted to see snow in the mountains.

I spent a few days there before the gross people, who call themselves “vikings,” showed up to steal stuff from the village.

It didn’t take long and I blew a lot of fire at them. They had 5 or 6 boats in the little bay, and I burned 3 of them so they had to all climb into the ones that didn’t burn so they could go home. I don’t think I hurt any of them, but they made me really mad that they wanted to hurt more of my friends so I scared them off.

It was then that I met a new friend. Ivan the Giant Snake. He was doing that thing that snakes and bears do when it gets cold and they have to eat a lot of food and sleep for the cold time of the year.

“Hey! What did you burn my home down for? It was that tree over there.”

“Oh,” I said, “I didn’t know that was your home. I’m very sorry. I was trying to protect the village from those gross viking people.”

“Oh, that’s different; but now I have to find a new place to sleep for the winter.” Ivan said.

“Can I help you?” I asked hoping to make up for burning his home.

“Of course you can, and we’ll find some mice and rabbits to eat.” He said to me in a thick Russian accent.

I was so excited to have another friend. We walked around for the next few days together, and the family I was staying with, always happy to help another reptile, let him sleep on the floor of my room. We ate so many rabbits that we always came back from our searching for his new home very full.

When it started to get really cold I didn’t think we would find a place for him, but we did, and it was a perfect little hole in the ground underneath a great big giant wall. It had a shelf inside that was perfect for him to sleep on and a nice little area of dirt below that would be soft if he rolled over in his sleep and fell off his shelf. In fact, it was even next to a hot spring so it would keep him warmer than his tree for the winter months.

I was sorry to say goodbye to him and the family I had stayed with, they were all very nice, but I will see the family again, and Ivan said he would come and see me in the summer time and I can’t wait for that.

Dr. Dragon and I flew home that day and I was able to sleep on my pile of gold, contented and cozy.

Some of you may not know me, but my name is Bernard. I have a deviated septum so I sound like I have a cold all the time. When my mother Gladys Dragon took me to see Dr. Dragon for the first time he was surprised I could sneeze fire. This was something that dragons hadn’t done in a long time.

Not long after this I burned down the school and the playground. I had a very hard time making friends until a few days later some gross yellow and red-haired people came into our village and started hurting my neighbors and the town. This made me the good kind of angry and I chased them all out of the town.

My mom and my brother, and the whole town was so proud of me. I felt really good, and that I had done a good thing. I also learned how to control my fire breathing which was good, and I’ll tell you why very soon.

My mom made me the biggest cherry pie after that to celebrate my good dead of saving the town. She always says, “You gotta always do something right, no matter how bad the other people are.” I didn’t realize that something right was dangerous and so violent until I had to protect everyone.

The people I scared off, who I heard were called “humans,” were all okay, just a bit singed. They’ll never threaten us again and that’s the good that I was able to do.

I’ve had so many people come to me for help lately that I’m so glad to be able to do something useful. Mom says I have to finish school still, but when school is done I can start working and helping people in my own way. It feels so good to work and be productive.

Dr. Dragon had me make him a new set of scale trimmers for his office. He trims the scales on the older dragons in our village with tail scales that grow longer when they get older. The only one he doesn’t do this for is old Mr. Ironclause. He lost his tale to a troll when he was fighting in the Great Troll War of Ismanoshare. A great grey troll just chomped it right off. But Mr. Ironclause had the last word with his giant claw hammer.

Speaking of trolls, some of the other villages have started to hear rumors about me it seems. I had a new job chasing off a troll in Itsalittley that was fun. Itsalittley is a village south of ours and they raise Great Horned Goats. These are very tasty, but they have to survive in order to enjoy them. I still go to sleep with a big glass of Great Horned Goat milk every night. Mom even puts cinnamon in it sometimes.

The troll was sneaking into the town at 2 o’clock in the morning and stealing one goat each night. He would eat it, leave the bones and then come back the next night. After a week the people in the village were worried for their flock.

Well, I went right over there. I even got to stay up all night, which never happens cause I’m not old enough. This time I did and I caught the troll red handed. I blew fire at him and he dropped the goat and ran. I cooked his left leg as he ran away. He was okay, he’s made out of stone. But he never came back again.

I’m really tired still from staying up late again last night and working so hard, but I’ll tell you about that and the giant snake I made friends with when I talk to you again. I hope you are being good for your mom and dad my friend.

To my readers: I appreciate your bearing with me in this time. I do want to share with you the fun and odd stories that rattle around in my head, but my first priority is to my patients during this time of crisis. I have been on an ICU nursing assignment in Chandler, AZ and have been trying to work more for the hospital. Arizona is currently being hit very hard by the virus as the country starts to open up, and subsequently the hospitals are being stressed. Our hospitals are also short staffed and I have been trying to help by working extra. I’ve been blessed to work with a very caring staff, but it’s hard to see patients and not families. Many of the hospitals are limiting visits to end of life care, and this makes it hard on all of us, families and nurses. We who are so used to having family there, who bond with the families over their loved ones and advocate for their loved one’s best interests. We become emotionally invested, and that’s taxing on a caregiver.

I do want to thank you all for your continued support and appreciation for us healthcare workers. I’ve been called “hero” by many family members over the phones, and the ones that are allowed in to say their final goodbyes. I don’t personally think this is fair to those people who do lay their lives on the line, such as my Grandfather who was injured during WWII fighting fascists and socialists in Italy. I will leave that up to other people to decide what I am in that regard because first and foremost I just want to be a caregiver.

We, all of us healthcare workers, became nurses because we care and because we wanted to make a difference. Some days it’s hard to see that we’re making a difference, but no disease lasts forever and we are lucky that we have a loving God who designed our bodies with adaptive immunity.

Again, thank you all for your support. God bless you all and keep you safe; Happy Independence Day; stay active, stay healthy!