This is as comprehensive list of my work as I can provide at the moment. It is in reversed-chronological order, with the most recent works at the top. I will do my very best to keep it as up to date as books are released (and when my old brain remembers to do so). If you want more information, such as more specific age/reading levels or Flesch scores, please refer to the BOOKS page at GRANDPUNWICK.COM. Many of these books fall under one of four series: Shakes the Cow, The Bear From AUNT, The MooseLambs (written by my wife, Elinda), or The Mighty Hippofartamus (co-created with shared creative duties with my Kidlet, Sam). This list will not include short stories written for “Saturday Matinee” Patrons under the “Grand Punwick Mystery Theater” (GPMT) banner. GPMT story summaries can be found at grandpunwickmysterytheater.com.

All of my books that are in circulation can be ordered from my affiliate page at bookshop.org, where they give a portion of the proceeds back to the author (in this case me) and another portion to small Mom-and-Pop bookstores to help keep them solvent in the age of big box online megaretailers. You can also order signed and remarqued books from our online shop at SHOPDFP.COM. Books in print but not published by DFP/Crass Fed Kids (our primary imprint) will have links to either their Bookshop page, or the book’s publisher.

If you have any questions, just use the Contact link at the top of the page! Cheers!

Coming in: 2025

Steer Your Own Story Game Book #2 (Paperback) – Expected Fall/Winter 2025

Shakes the Cow Adventure #7 (Hardcover) – Expected Fall/Winter 2025

Works Published in: 2025

Jungle of Moo’d: A Shakes the Cow Adventure (Paperback)

(Available to order from most retailers. 2025; Paperback; 58pp; $20.99; ISBN 978-1-943348-33-6)

Shakes has been thinking about what happened in the jungle (TEMPLE OF MOO’D) and wants to make amends. So she learns the native language, and along with Percie, heads back to the Hoofito jungles to try again with meeting the members of the tribe. When they arrive, they find the tribe dealing with a problem for which Percie may have an interesting solution… Find out what happens in JUNGLE OF MOO’D!

This paperback printing of the sixth Shakes the Cow adventure includes the story as presented in its original special edition hardcover presentation, along with activities young readers can do after finishing the story!

Sundaes in the Park With Sprinkles – A MooseLamb Storybook (Written by Elinda Deans) (Paperback)

(Available to order from most retailers. 2025; Paperback; 54pp; $20.99; ISBN 978-1-943348-35-0)

SUNDAES IN THE PARK WITH SPRINKLES is the story of two bears who meet as children and eventually fall in love. When it’s time to start a family, they get married, but have to adopt. At the orphanage, they spot a young MooseLamb all alone… Ice Cream often soothes a broken heart, but how does it bring two hearts together?

This paperback printing of the second MooseLamb storybook includes the story as presented in its original hardcover presentation.

Spicey’s Tale: A Factual Radical Love Story – A MooseLamb Storybook (Written by Elinda Deans) (Paperback)

(Available to order from most retailers. 2025; Paperback; 58pp; $20.99; ISBN 978-1-943348-34-3)

What happens when a happy-go-lucky lamb and a sad-and-depressed moose meet? Spicey’s tale is a storybook about bullying, mixed families, children from those families, and a testament to the simple yet powerful idea that “Love is Love.”

This paperback printing of the first MooseLamb storybook includes the story as presented in its original hardcover presentation.

Works Published in: 2024

The Case of the Caterpillar Driver: A Bear From AUNT Adventure (Paperback #4)

(Available to order from most retailers. 2024; Paperback; 270pp; $19.99; ISBN 978-1-943348-32-9)

After proving himself in CHICANE MUTINY, Tyler has a chance to train to be a field agent. Unfortunately, he starts to feel sick, and wants to resign from AUNT. He then finds out he’s not sick, it’s his time to transition from a caterpillar to… something else. He’s not sure, but he’s nervous about his new future, both as an insectoid and an agent. But after his transition, Tyler is kidnapped by a group who thinks transitioning is wrong. Can Stanley and the rest of AUNT find him before something happens?

Eagle-eyed folks will note the colors of the rainbow, and of Tyler’s wings, on the cover. Those colors were deliberately chosen.

La Moo Du Chocolat: A Shakes the Cow Adventure (Paperback #5)

(Available to order from most retailers. 2024; Paperback; 58pp; $19.99; ISBN 978-1-943348-27-5)

For Shakes’ birthday, she and Percie go to Cownada to visit her cousin Coco. Coco runs a bakery, and when they arrive, Coco is in trouble! Her staff is sick, and Coco needs help, so Shakes and Percie volunteer to help her run her bakery. Things don’t go so well when the bakery’s chocolate machine goes awry!

This paperback printing of LA MOO DU CHOCOLAT, the fifth Shakes the Cow adventure, includes the story as presented in its original special edition hardcover presentation, along with activities young readers can do after finishing the story. This edition also includes the chocolate cake recipe that children 4 and up can make themselves with minimal adult supervision!

Works Published in: 2023

Dream a Little Dream of Moo: A Shakes the Cow Adventure (Paperback)

(Available to order from most retailers. 2023; Paperback; 62pp; $20.99; ISBN 978-1-943348-26-8)

Shakes is ready for a day off from adventuring, so she and Percie settle down with a bunch of their favorite moovies, popcorn, and plenty of root beer. Before the first movie can get started… Shakes falls asleep in her chair! She starts dreaming, and she dreams of herself in her favorite movies! She dreams of being a thief in the forest stealing from the rich to give to the poor; she dreams of being a rebel soldier on an ice planet; and she dreams of being a sub captain trying to lead her crew to safety in a new country before her country finds them! Her dreams then inspire her to make one of her dreams come true.

This paperback printing of the fourth Shakes the Cow adventure includes the story as presented in its original hardcover presentation, along with activities readers can do after finishing the story!

Moo Fast, Moo Furryous: A Shakes the Cow Adventure (Paperback)

(Available to order from most retailers. 2023; Paperback; 56pp; $18.99; ISBN 978-1-943348-25-1)

Shakes and Percie start a new adventure with their Surf & Turf racing team, and Shakes is challenging for the Formoola One championship! However, one of her rivals may not be playing fair! Can Shakes and her team win without resorting to cheating, and what happens when her rivals continue to play unfairly? Find out in MOO FAST, MOO FURRYOUS!

This paperback printing of the fourth Shakes the Cow adventure is a shared story with the Bear From AUNT book, THE CASE OF THE CHICANE MUTINY, and is meant to allow readers to experience the same story from two different sides and reading levels when they advance to a higher level, or share a story with younger family and friends. This edition includes the story as presented in its original hardcover presentation, along with activities readers can do after finishing the story!

The Case of the Chicane Mutiny: A Bear From AUNT Adventure (Paperback #3)

(Available to order from most retailers. 2023; Paperback; 318pp; $19.99; ISBN 978-1-943348-312)

It’s a slow day at AUNT when Percie calls on her friends for help. It seems there may be something nefarious going on in the current season of Formoola One racing. Shakes is in the running for driver’s champion, but she and Percie are convinced her rivals are playing dirty. They ask Stanley and AUNT to help investigate without interfering in the racing. Can Stanley learn enough about Formoola One and find out if one of the other teams are cheating without interfering with any of the races?

This is a shared story with the Shakes the Cow book, MOO FAST, MOO FURRYOUS, and is meant to allow readers to experience the same story from two different sides and reading levels when they advance to a higher level, or share a story with younger family and friends.

Works Published in: 2022

The Temple of Moo’d: A Shakes the Cow Adventure (Paperback #2)

(Available to order from most retailers. 2022; Paperback; 54pp; $18.99; ISBN 978-1-943348-24-4)

Following her harrowing space adventure, Shakes wants to relax. She takes her best friend Percie the Penguin along for a holiday to the jungles of the southern hemisphere. While there, they discover some ancient ruins. While exploring they get split up and have to find each other! Along the way they run into ancient statues that look oddly familiar. Can they find a way out of the ruins and get back home? Find out in TEMPLE OF MOO’D!

This paperback printing of the second Shakes the Cow adventure includes the story as presented in its original hardcover presentation, along with activities readers can do after finishing the story!

Moo Thousand and Pun: A Shakes the Cow Adventure (Paperback #1)

(Available to order from most retailers. 2022; Paperback; 50pp; $17.99; ISBN 978-1-943348-23-7)

In the very first Shakes the Cow adventure, MOO THOUSAND AND PUN, Shakes wants to become an astronaut, so she takes all the training and becomes the first cow to fly a space shuttle! Unfortunately during her first space walk, she gets lost! How will she get back to the shuttle, and then home? Find out in Shakes’ very first picture book adventure, MOO THOUSAND AND PUN!

This paperback printing of the first Shakes the Cow adventure includes the story as presented in its original hardcover presentation, along with activities readers can do after finishing the story!

The Case of the Pushy Octopus: A Bear From AUNT Adventure (Paperback #2)

(Available to order from most retailers. 2022; Paperback; 264pp; $17.99; ISBN 978-1-943348-28-2)

Stanley is called to Director Leo’s office, where he is introduced to Calvin O’Mari, the director of AUNT’s aquatic division. O’Mari has transferred one of Aquatic’s cases to AUNT, and Leo has assigned it to Stanley. O’Mari has also assigned one of his agents to work with AUNT on the case.

Stanley gets paired with Percie the Penguin from the Shakes the Cow books, who is also an AUNT Aquatic agent! They team up to solve a bizarre mystery: why are the glaciers melting faster than expected? Even stranger… How did an iceberg pop up from out of nowhere… at the Equator?! Can Stanley and Percie solve the case before the haywire global weather conditions become irreversible?

Jungle of Moo’d: A Shakes the Cow Adventure Special HEROES CON Limited Edition (Hardcover)

(Out of print. 2022; Hardcover; 102pp, $45)

Shakes has been thinking about what happened in the jungle (TEMPLE OF MOO’D) and wants to make amends. So she learns the native language, and along with Percie, heads back to the Hoofito jungles to try again with meeting the members of the tribe. When they arrive, they find the tribe dealing with a problem that Percie may have an interesting solution for… Find out what that is in JUNGLE OF MOO’D!

This special edition was available only at the 2022 Heroes Convention in the Summer of 2022. This volume also reprinted the original TEMPLE OF MOO’D story in its entirety, featured a special “Build Your Own Shakes” activity, along with other activities for readers to complete.

Brewing Tolerance – A MooseLamb Storybook (Written by Elinda and Sam Deans) (Hardcover)

(Available to order from most retailers. 2022; Hardcover; 56pp; $29.99; ISBN 978-1-943348-22-0)

The third storybook in the MooseLamb series, BREWING TOLERANCE introduces readers to two new MooseLambs, Rosey and Matcha, both of whom have been bullied at school. When they see their bully get bullied themselves, they have to decide what to do next: what makes them feel better, or what’s the right thing to do? And what does their decision mean for their future?

Paperback edition expected for Holiday 2025!

Works Published in: 2021

The Mighty Hippofartamus 3: Hippofartamus Meets TOOT-Anka-MOOn (With Sam Kidlet)

(Available to order from shopdfp.com, or at most of our appearances.)

In the third issue, HIPPOFARTAMUS MEETS TOOT-AN-KAMOON, Hippo is on holiday in her alter ego Patty Moss. She is visiting the Pyramids, and while there a mysterious beam wakens the moomy and creates havoc all over the ruins. Will Patty – as the Mighty Hippofartamus – be able to calm the crowds, find out what’s causing the moomies to rise, and stop the chaos before it’s too late?

This issue includes a backup short story in which Hippo is called in to help capture a bank robber while the robbery is in progress. Why then does Patty pause to shower, nap, and vacuum before heading to the bank?

A NOTE ABOUT THE BEAR FROM AUNT and SHAKES THE COW SERIES HARDCOVERS FROM 2015 to 2020

The SHAKES and BEAR FROM AUNT series both started solely as hardcovers in 2015. In 2020, massive increases of paper and distribution costs for all printers (but for US-based printers in particular, which we exclusively use) would have meant the BEAR books would have had to be subject to a price increase to as much as $35 per book, with the SHAKES books becoming as much as $45. While hardcovers were better for durability, we realized paperbacks were better overall for budgets. We decided to change our book’s main distribution model to paperbacks, but keep hardcovers in print for libraries to order if desired. Paperbacks cold be priced between $15 and $20, and even allow for bonus content to be added to the new paperback printings of the SHAKES books.

As for the BEAR books, while reviewing their texts for reformatting, I started noticing things I thought I could write better. So, I started rewriting the BEAR series, resulting in the original stories being roughly 50% longer than the initial hardcovers. I also redrew all of the interior artwork, which essentially makes the BEAR paperbacks “remastered” from the originals. The new paperback versions should be available in hardcover for librarians by summer 2026, but please note they will be the newer versions only, and not reprints of the originals. As of now, I do not have plans to reprint The Stanley Inquisition. The SHAKES stories are unaffected by the transition, save for a slight size change, from 8.5×11 in hardcover to 8×10 in paperback. No artwork or text changed.

Works Published in: 2020

The Honey Don’t Case: A Bear From AUNT Adventure (Paperback #1)

(Available to order from most retailers. 2020; Paperback; 222pp; $16.99; ISBN 978-1-943348-20-6)

THE HONEY DON’T CASE (01) introduces readers to Stanley, the best agent at the Animal United Network Taskforce. He is aided by his talented team of scientists and analysts who help him solve some of the world’s strangest mysteries, and capture the masterminds behind them.

AUNT joins forces with another nation’s intelligence agency to discover why the world’s honey supply is drying up – and why the world’s honeybees are disappearing! Stanley is assigned to work with the agency’s best agent, Marco. Can he and Marco work together well and figure out the mystery in time?

The Bear From A.U.N.T.: The Case of the Stanley Inquisition (Hardcover / OOP)

Works Published in: 2019

The Mystery of the Flying Pig: A Steer Your Own Story Game Book (Paperback)

(Available to order from most retailers. 2019; Paperback; 192pp; $15.99; ISBN 978-1-943348-18-3)

THE MYSTERY OF THE FLYING PIG is unlike any other solo adventure game book in that the reader first chooses the character they wish to be before they jump into the mystery! Readers can choose to be either Shakes the Cow or Stanley, the Bear from AUNT.

As Stanley or Shakes, you investigate the rumors of a Flying Pig causing trouble all over Grand Punwick. Throughout your investigation you will determine if it’s just a rumor, or find out if the ornithological oinker is real, and if real, can you find the piggy?

A second STEER YOUR OWN STORY is expected to debut in time for the 2025 holiday season!

La Moo Du Chocolat: A Shakes the Cow Adventure (Hardcover)

(Available to order from most retailers. 2019; Hardcover; 48pp; $29.99; ISBN 978-1-943348-16-9)

For Shakes’ birthday, she and Percie go to Cownada to visit her cousin Coco. Coco runs a bakery, and when they arrive, Coco is in trouble! Her staff is sick, and Coco needs help, so Shakes and Percie volunteer to help her run her bakery. Things don’t go so well when the chocolate machine goes awry!

LA MOO DU CHOCOLAT includes a chocolate cake recipe that children 4 and up can make themselves with minimal adult supervision!

Sundaes in the Park With Sprinkles – A MooseLamb Storybook (Written by Elinda Deans) (Hardcover)

(Available to order from most retailers. 2019; Hardcover; 50pp; $29.99; ISBN 978-1-943348-17-6)

SUNDAES IN THE PARK WITH SPRINKLES is the story of two bears who meet as children and eventually fall in love. When it’s time to start a family, they get married, but have to adopt. At the orphanage, they spot a young MooseLamb all alone… Ice Cream often soothes a broken heart, but how does it bring two hearts together?

SPRINKLES is the second storybook in the MooseLamb series.

Works Published in: 2018

The Bear From A.U.N.T.: The Case of the Caterpillar Drive (Hardcover / OOP)

(Out of Print)

After proving himself in CHICANE MUTINY, Tyler has a chance to train to be a field agent. Unfortunately, he starts to feel sick, and wants to resign from AUNT. He then finds out he’s not sick, it’s his time to transition from a caterpillar to… something else. He’s not sure, but he’s nervous about his new future, both as an insectoid and an agent. But after his transition, Tyler is kidnapped by a group who thinks transitioning is wrong. Can Stanley and the rest of AUNT find him before something happens?

Fun fact: when I was reworking this book for the new paperback release, my wife threatened my life (I think she was kidding) if I changed anything, as this is her favorite of my books. I’m still here, so…

Dream a Little Dream of Moo: A Shakes the Cow Adventure (Hardcover)

(Available to order from most retailers. 2018; Hardcover; 54pp; $29.99; ISBN 978-1-943348-14-5)

Shakes is ready for a day off from adventuring! So she and Percie settle down with a bunch of their favorite moovies, popcorn, and plenty of root beer. Before the first movie can get started… Shakes falls asleep in her chair! She starts dreaming, and she dreams of herself in her favorite movies! She dreams of being a thief in the forest stealing from the rich to give to the poor; she dreams of being a rebel soldier on an ice planet; and she dreams of being a sub captain trying to lead her crew to safety in a new country before her country finds them! Her dreams then inspire her to make one of her dreams come true.

In all honesty – this was just an excuse to draw Shakes into my favorite movies. Sorry, moovies. I got to draw her as Disney’s Robin Hood, Luke Skywalker on Hoth, Marko Raimius on the Red October, Wonder Woman, and a bunch more. Thanks to a double-page spread, a LOT more. There’s even a Shakes Kaiju!

The Mighty Hippofartamus 2: Electric Stinkaroo (With Sam Kidlet)

(Currently out of print; may return for a limited print run for summer 2025)

The Mighty Hippofartamus is called in by Captain Cop Asquat to help police deal with a unique threat. While at the annual Grand Punwick Turtle Festival, a giant mechanical turtle emerges from the lake to terrorize the festival! Can Hippo take down the turtle without letting it hurt anyone? Will she also be able to help the police track down whomever is responsible for the mechanical menace?

Electric Stinkaroo started much like the first Hippo comic, with a silly idea from the Kidlet. I then asked her a lot of questions until we had enough of a story that we had something to draw. I laid out the book in blue pencil, and let Kidlet ink the book before I lettered it and prepped it for the printer. This book also reprinted the initial ashcan comic, The Mighty Hippofartamus, which sold out of three print runs by the summer of 2018.

Works Published in: 2017

Spicey’s Tale: A Factual Radical Love Story – A MooseLamb Storybook (Written by Elinda Deans) (Hardcover)

(Available to order from most retailers. 2017; 52pp; $29.99; ISBN 978-1-943348-12-1)

What happens when a happy-go-lucky lamb and a sad-and-depressed moose meet? Spicey’s tale is a storybook about bullying, mixed families, children from those families, and a testament to the simple yet powerful idea that “Love is Love.”

Borne from former press secretary Sean Spicer’s inability to properly pronounce “Muslim,” my wife was challenged to create a “Moose-Lamb” toy, and in couple of days, Spicey the MooseLamb was born! Spicey needed an origin story, so she came up with one, and I helped her turn it into a storybook, and the MooseLamb series was born.

The Bear From A.U.N.T.: The Case of the Chicane Mutiny (Hardcover / OOP)

(Out of print. 2017)

During a rare quiet time at AUNT, Percie calls and asks for a favor: she is running the Surf & Turf racing team for Mooclaren Racing with Shakes as the team’s number one driver. She and Shakes are concerned their biggest rival on track is cheating – and that it may be bigger than just one driver! Stanley and Marco go undercover as mechanics, but can they uncover the mystery before the end of the season, and without affecting any of the races?

This was a concerted storytelling effort with the Shakes book MOO FAST MOO FURRYOUS for my older readers and a love letter to Formula One, the one sport I follow. The fun part was adding in my favorite drivers – especially Rubens Barrichello – into the narrative, just in animal form. My hope is that younger readers will read MOO FAST, and then a few years later, read CHICANE and get a richer more involved reading experience, and greater appreciation for the overall story.

Moo Fast, Moo Furryous (Hardcover)

(Available to order from most retailers. 2017; 54pp; $29.99; ISBN 978-1-943348-06-0)

Shakes is a Formoola One racing driver, and Percie is her chief mechanic! Driving for the Mooclaren racing team, Shakes is fighting for the driver’s championship but is one of her rivals playing fair… or being a snake in the grass?

I had done Shakes in space (honoring NASA, Star Wars, Star Trek, and 2001), and Shakes in the Jungle (Raiders of the Lost Ark), so I just HAD to put shakes in my favorite sport, F1 Racing. Unfortunately, what I didn’t think through was that it meant I was going to have to draw a LOT of racing cars. And tracks. Oof. One of the awkward parts is that I actually like Alonso, but his name just lent itself so beautifully to a snake’s name that if he ever sees the book, I hope he understands.

Works Published in: 2016

The Bear From A.U.N.T.: The Case of the Pushy Octopus (Hardcover / OOP)

(Out of print.)

While Marco is on holiday, Stanley is assigned a new case and a temporary new partner from AUNT’s Aquatic division, Percie. Along with Percie comes her supervisor, Leo’s counterpart from Aquatic, a rules-minded Octopus who gets in Stanley’s way at every turn. Can Stanley and Percie solve the mystery of glaciers at the equator and icebergs melting at the south pole before the case goes cold?

With this mystery, it made sense for Stanley to have a sea-faring partner, and I love penguins, so I made the partner a penguin. And for fun I made the penguin the same from the Shakes the Cow picture book series, inadvertently creating a shared universe in my children’s books. Grand Punwick – and a whole lot of headaches – was born.

Temple of Moo’d (Hardcover)

(Available to order from most retailers. 2016; 48pp; ISBN 978-1-943348-03-9)

Shakes, along with her best friend Percie the Penguin, visits the jungles of the southern continent while on holiday after returning from space. While exploring the jungle, the pair gets lost – and then separated – and finds themselves in a giant temple adorned with treasures and massive statues that look very familiar! What happens when Percie starts reading from one of the mysterious tablets?

Percie started as a cameo in MOO THOUSAND AND PUN as one of the Mission – sorry – Moossion Control techs, and I decided Shakes’ adventures would be more fun with a partner. After all, Indiana had Sallah, right? Now, Shakes had Percie, who was named in honor of an old school friend of my wife’s who died at a very early age. TEMPLE would become the first Shakes story to get a sequel in 2022 with JUNGLE OF MOO’D.

Works Published in: 2015

The Mighty Hippofartamus #1 (With Sam Kidlet)

(Out of print. Reprinted in Hippofartamus II: Electric Stinkaroo.)

When a different kind of evil rears its ugly head, sometimes the cops need special help, and that’s when they call upon Grand Punwick’s very own superhero, The Mighty Hippofartamus! When police Captain Cop Asquat calls, mild mannered Patty Moss becomes the Gassy Guardian, ready to save the day!

While my wife and I were working away on our own books, then 8-year-old Kidlet was feeling left out, as kids that age will often do. So, I took a goofy idea that had developed from my rather unique way of getting her out of bed for school and turned it into an idea for a comic book character. The Mighty Hippofartamus was born! To get Kidlet as involved as possible, I would constantly ask her questions about Hippo until we had the frame of a story, which I then penciled. I then gave her the pages to ink, and after I lettered the comic, I taught her how to digitally color the book. The book was printed at a local print shop by a friend, just in time for our first show of 2015, and every so often, Kidlet comes up with another adventure allowing us to keep Hippo classy and gassy!

Con Grub (Written by Elinda Deans)

(Available from DFP Direct.)

Are you a serial convention goer? Tired of $30 tenders, or $15 hot dogs? Or worse, pre-made cellophane-wrapped turkey sandwiches that make you long for the gourmet taste of 7-11 offerings? Then check out the recipes in CON GRUB. Inside you will find sweet and savory treats plus meal plans and ideas for those long weekends when you’re either stuck behind your table all day, or in line for your favorite artist! Recipes include cookies and breakfast items, plus snacks, many of which are geared towards lower sugar or lower glucose impact ingredients, with many being shelf stable for at least the length of a four-day convention without refrigeration! CON GRUB also includes artwork by all three Deans, plus comic artists Drew Moss, Eryk Donovan, and Tara O’Connor.

When I was working with Jamie Cosley to promote the Cody the Cavalier comic in 2013, my wife noticed just how hard artists work behind their tables during a convention – and how little they eat and drink, especially healthily. So, she worked on several recipes that were shelf stable (and in some ways healthier than the deep fried concessions) for artists to make ahead and keep under the table when exhibiting. Some 50 recipes later, and accompanied by the amazing artwork of comic artists like Drew Moss, Eryk Donovan, Matt Wieringo, and more, CON GRUB was born. The Kidlet and I Both contributed artwork (so if you’re a completist, order a copy while we still have them!)!

The Bear From A.U.N.T.: The Honey Don’t Case (Hardcover / OOP)

(Out of Print.)

Stanley is a superspy Koala working for a global spy agency whose mission is to keep the planet safe from threats normal law enforcement cannot handle. When it becomes clear that the world’s honey bees are disappearing, Stanley is assigned a new partner and tasked with solving the mystery. Can Stanley solve the case and learn to work with his new partner before all of the world’s bees disappear completely?

This series started as a gag on a birthday card I drew for my wife, based on a line of dialogue from The Hunt For Red October, and after I drew that card, the idea would not leave me alone. After I had finished MOO THOUSAND AND PUN, I took a few weeks and the result was the first Bear From AUNT book, based on the Man From UNCLE TV series I had watched as a kid. Filled with references to spy films and shows, Stanley was my chance to present spy adventures to kids (including my own) for whom the Bond films were just a little too mature.

Moo Thousand and Pun (Hardcover)

(Available to order from most retailers. 2015; Hardcover; 40pp; $26.99; ISBN 978-1-943348-01-5)

Shakes wants to become an astronaut, so she takes all the training and becomes the first cow to fly a space shuttle! Unfortunately during her first space walk, she gets lost! How will she get back to the shuttle, and then home?

This story hit me all at once the day after I was laid off, based on a goofy sketch I made of Kidlet’s favorite toy as an astronaut. After a couple of re-writes and a couple of test readings, the printing of Moo Thousand and Pun was funded through a successful Kickstarter in March of 2015.

Udderly Useless Trivia: The final copy from the original Kickstarter print run sold in 2019 just prior to the Covid 19 pandemic shutdown.

Works Published in: 2013

Cody the Cavalier #1: Game On Comics Special

(Out of print, all formats. 2014; Comic Book; 32pp; $4)

Published by the shop I managed at the time (yes, RHIP) as a planned line of local artist spotlight comics, our first issue focused on my friend Jamie Cosley. Jamie had not yet become “Star Wars artist Jamie Cosley,” or created BlueScar. Cody the Cavalier was his first wide-release creator owned character, and our shop released Cody’s first actual comic book, whose earlier adventures had been comic strips. Jamie asked me to write a story for the book, and I enlisted then 8-year-old Kidlet’s help in writing “True Grits.” Only 200 copies of the comic were published, which is no longer available, as the shop closed in 2015. The stories were reprinted in 2015 in the digital comic “Kin Platt’s Super Mouse and Friends,” published via Comixology through Art Baltazar & Franco’s Aw Yeah Comics.

If you think about it, my entire career in publishing is basically Jamie Cosley’s fault.