Born to a loving mother with little money, but an abundance of imagination she shared with C. S. during long walks, bike rides before helmets, and nightly readings from mountains of books. Stories of giants and elves, mythical beasts and powerful maidens filled the world of C. S. from the earliest of memories. After finishing graduate school, C. S. O'Kelly sold off all five possessions, purchased a 1974 Ford 19 foot motorhome and went north. After ten years in SE Alaska, C. S. landed in warmer climes on a small ranch in Northern California where crafting stories and storyworlds seemed as natural as raising organic free range chickens (named after Stars Wars characters) for eggs only. To this day, C. S. travels the world, but always comes back to the small ranch with a home built with C. S.'s own hands. The philosophy that we enter the world with innate, powerful and beautiful imaginations is the core for all of C. S. O'Kelly's works and a belief that permeates all things C. S. An unusual sort of picture book... Gracie & MonkeyBear is told through the actions and conversations between a brilliant young girl and her partner in adventure, the greatest canine inventor the world has ever seen... MonkeyBear! The pace is that of children, hopping and bouncing from one creative thought to the next, one adventure to another. ------------------------------------------------------------------- This is not a traditional children's book, rather it is a storyworld meant to be read and experienced together, parent and child, veteran bookworms with new readers. At its core, The Adventures of Gracie & MonkeyBear embodies the concepts of relentless curiosity, untethered imagination, power of diverse friendships and experiences (like the world around us), heroic acts of kindness based on strength of character and most of all, the belief that all living things are connected and should be treated with love, compassion and respect. Thank you for supporting independent authors and illustrators! Without you, we would not exist. C.S. O'Kelly
