The 2026 Moonbeam Awards has concluded and Cowboy Cooper and the Ghost Town is officially a Finalist!
You can check out all the winners and finalists here:
https://moonbeamawards.com/blog/2026-medalists
I recently attended the Kansas Authors Club 2026 Writing Convention at Rock Springs Ranch, and it ended up being a really great weekend.
One of the highlights was getting to spend some time in the woods with Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg, who won the Coffin Memorial Book Award for Nonfiction. We ended up getting a little lost, which made for a pretty memorable part of the weekend.
Continue reading “Kansas City Author Club Awards”
Read the full post here: Current News from the Kansas Authors Club – Kansas Authors Club
I’m happy to share that Cowboy Cooper and the Ghost Town has been named a finalist in the 2026 Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards.
This is a particularly nice recognition for the book because Cowboy Cooper has taken a bit of a different path than some of my other projects. What started as a children’s book has continued to grow, and I’ve been able to explore the story in other formats as well.
Continue reading “Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards: Cowboy Cooper and the Ghost Town”Cowboy Cooper and the Ghost Town has been featured in the October newsletter and Facebook page of the Oregon-California Trails Association (OCTA), giving the book an opportunity to reach thousands of OCTA members who share an interest in the history of the American West and the trails that helped shape it.
The connection is especially meaningful because several OCTA members helped inspire the creation of Cowboy Cooper and the Ghost Town. Their knowledge, stories, and enthusiasm for preserving Western history helped influence the book and its setting.
Continue reading “Cowboy Cooper featured in the OCTA Newsletter”
I just made an appearance at the Kansas City Book Festival in Topeka, Kansas.
My book “Cowboy Cooper and the Ghost Town” is featured on display at the Kansas Authors Club table, along with the other finalists in the annual book contest.
“Cowboy Cooper and the Ghost Town” is one of three finalists for Best Picture Book.
Limited-edition bookmarks and postcards are available to celebrate the occasion.
I met some fellow authors and organizers and learned more about publishing and some local stories and anecdotes from Topeka.
Continue reading “Kansas Book Festival”
It was another busy weekend on the festival circuit.
The Kinodrome: International Motion Picture and Screenplay Festival took place September 13–14, and I was happy to see three of my projects recognized.
Bam Bam the Bunny: Hole Lotta Trouble received an Honorable Mention in the screenplay category.
Continue reading “KinoDrome: International Motion Picture and Screenwriting Festival”
We received word this morning that the Cowboy Cooper and the Ghost Town (screenplay) was named an Official Selection and will go forward to the next round of Judging.
Events take place October 3rd and 4th.
Find out more here.
My book Bam Bam the Bunny will be featured throughout September on the Readers’ Favorite homepage and Readers Section pages, giving it an extra opportunity to be discovered by new readers. 📚✨
You can read the review right here!
A new milestone has been reached for “Cowboy Cooper and the Ghost Town,” as the screenplay by Ben St. James has officially been selected for the 2026 Great Plains Film Festival in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
Continue reading “Cowboy Cooper and the Ghost Town Screenplay Selected for Great Plains Film Festival”Good news!
My vertical animated short “Cupid School”, and the screenplays “Bam Bam the Bunny: Hole Lotta Trouble” and “Cowboy Cooper and the Ghost Town” were all named Official Selections this weekend in the KinoDrome motion picture and screenplay festival.
This is the second time I had three separate works accepted in the same festival.
Exciting news, I was featured in an article profiling different illustrators who are making waves on TikTok.
You can view the original post via the link, I’ve also included a copy of the article below for archive purposes.
Review by Christiankidsbookswithgran
🐰 Bam Bam the Bunny by Ben St James
📚 Children’s Picture Book | Ages 0 to 8
As someone who absolutely loves bunnies, I couldn’t help but adore Bam Bam. His little superhero outfit, complete with the adorable carrot emblem, immediately made me smile. He’s always ready to hop into action whenever someone needs help, and along the way he teaches children beautiful lessons about empathy, friendship, kindness, and celebrating our differences.
Continue reading “Christian Kids Books with Gran Review: Bam Bam the Bunny”
Review by: The Magic of Biblios Mia
“Bam Bam dressed in his costume, all swift and keen, With speed at which rabbits are so rarely seen”.
I read this cute rabbit Bam Bam’s story. This bunny can apparently fly and jump tall buildings.
The core theme of this book is Friendship. No matter what our sizes are, or whether someone is new, we can all still be friends. The only thing that’s needed is a big and a kind heart. I loved the message.
The illustrations are so cute. It fits early readers the best. It’s perfect for bedtime storytelling.
See the original post here: https://www.instagram.com/p/Da67EmIsS0a/?igsh=N2oyaGQwZzEzYjVo
Review by TwoDadsOneBedtimeStory
Road to 1,000 books before kindergarten!
Book: Bam Bam the Bunny
Author: Ben St. James
This is our honest review:
We were lucky enough to get an early look at Bam Bam the Bunny, and it is an absolute must-add to your little one’s future bookshelf!
Review by: Gram’s Garden lfl
Meet Bam Bam the Bunny:
A Fuzzy Hero who teaches valuable lessons of acceptance, friendship, and the importance of helping others.
Written and illustrated by Ben St. James, Bam Bam the Bunny is sure to delight children pre-k through age 8. With whimsical illustrations and rhyming text this adorable book is perfect for parent-child reading time or easy solo reading for beginning readers.
🐇 📚 🐇 📚 🐇 📚 🐇
About this book:
Hop into an adventure filled with friendship & empathy!
Bam Bam the Bunny is known far and wide for his abilities and boundless energy. When a call for help echoes through the streets, Bam Bam springs into action, ready to lend a paw to those in need. Alongside some unlikely new friends, Bam Bam embarks on a heartwarming adventure, teaching valuable lessons of acceptance, friendship, and the importance of helping others, which children will remember thanks to the memorable rhymes. Join Bam Bam on a journey where differences are celebrated, new friendships are made, and kindness reigns supreme in this charming tale.
🐇 📚 🐇 📚 🐇
Review by Pattie
My Review: This book was very cute, and the illustrations were creative and fun to view. Since I haven’t been a part of the children’s literature world for quite a while, it was interesting to see how the Foreword really shapes the reader’s view of this story, which I could see being interpreted differently if on its own. Without the explanation at the start, would a small child in the 21st century understand the obvious take on the Godzilla story? Would they be confused about seeing a girl or woman in a gorilla’s clutch? I did find the explanation valid: not everything is as it appears. Nevertheless, I would be interested in why that’s the image the author chose, and what placing the foreword as an afterword might do for the book.
The text is cute and rhymes well, and the overall message is positive. If you have a child who likes rabbits, mice, and/or gorillas, they’ll like this book.
Review by Amanda Felton
This was such a cute and quick story. My son and I loved it so much. I loved how Bam Bam was so helpful and wore a special outfit. My son said he was like Spider-Man.
The book was so easy to read and my son who is going into 2nd grade was able to read some to me.
It didn’t have a lot of detail and that’s so good for a kids book. Wasn’t bogged down in the least!!
I liked the ape and found it so funny he was scared of a mouse but then they were friends loved that!!!
Overall my son is already asking to read this book again so can’t wait for him to read it to me for the practice!!!
See the original post: https://www.instagram.com/p/DayjMh1RBbI/
Review by Amorina Carlton
Title: Bam Bam the Bunny
Author: Ben St James
Genre: Children’s (age 0-8)
Pages: 24
Gifted Format: eBook
What an absolutely adorable and adorable picture book! I read this with my 8 year old and her first words when we finished were, “I loved it.” And I agree!
Continue reading “Book Tour Review from Amorina Carlton”
Review by @bonkers_for_books
BOOK REVIEW: ☆☆☆☆☆
A book with a purpose, even for young children, this book has an intentional purpose and takeaway.
… and with society today, friendships are challenging and kindness is not everywhere.
Bam Bam the Bunny shares a strong message throughout the story and reassures that kindness can be found everywhere.
The messages are strong and clear and the graphics are even better.
See the original post here: https://www.instagram.com/p/Da1rPWDshDJ/
Review from @BolasBookNook
Bedtime reading is one of Jr.’s favorite parts of the day, and this book delivered exactly what he needed! From the very first page, he was completely engaged as I read.
I loved that the story explored important themes like conquering fears, finding courage, and making new friends in a way that was easy for little ones to understand. It offered a great message while still being fun and entertaining.
This was a sweet, heroic children’s story that’s short, engaging, and straight to the point. Perfect for winding down before bed. If you’re looking for a book that keeps your little one’s attention while teaching meaningful life lessons, this is definitely one to add to your bedtime rotation!
See the original post here: https://www.instagram.com/bolasbooknook
A review that is short and sweet from Kaitlynvreads over on Instagram.
I love to switch things up and review children’s books!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Bam Bam The Bunny is a fun story with an important message! I loved the theme of spreading kindness. It also encourages kids to make friendships.
My favorite quote was “we all have good hearts, that’s why love conquers all.”
#lbtcrew
See the original post here: https://www.instagram.com/p/Da2zHS4sdYd/
I’m incredibly grateful to share that Cowboy Cooper and the Ghost Town has been named a Finalist in the Kansas Authors Club Children’s Book Award in the Picture Book category!
Continue reading “Cowboy Cooper and the Ghost Town receives recognition in KC.”Celebrating the 1st anniversary of Cowboy Cooper and the Ghost Town and the very special 250th birthday of these great United States, new merch is now live!
Ultra limited edition. Find out more on the special Cowboy Cooper Plush Doll page here.
There’s no better way to promote reading, historical preservation, and good old fashioned fun!
Although I was unable to attend this year I did have a presence at the sold out ITSE Film Festival founded by Crystal Manning and Antoinette Titus.
The Ben St. James logo was featured alongside other sponsors at the festival.
Crystal, Antoinette, and I co-created some very cool IP with our friend William “Big Sleeps” Stewart.
It’s a super hero project that pre-dates Guinea Pig Power.
I hope we get a chance to share it in the future. The project drew attention from publishers and film industry professionals and helped me gain traction as a cartoonist.
Find out where you can get one.
Earlier this month, I was notified that my short film Cupid School had been officially selected for the Max Sir International Film Festival and would also be included as part of the festival’s Cinema in Schools initiative organized in collaboration with the ICJ Film Awards.
Through this program, selected films are being screened in 100 schools across Ukraine, including communities located near frontline regions. The initiative is designed to bring international cinema and creative storytelling directly to students through organized school screenings.
This is one of the photos shared with filmmakers from a screening held at a lyceum in Kramatorsk, Ukraine. Seeing images from the actual screenings and knowing the work is reaching students in these communities makes the selection especially meaningful.
Continue reading “Ukrainian Cinema in Schools Initiative”
Reader Views was kind enough to give individual shout outs to me and some of the author sponsors — one of whom I got to chat with Dwayne, great guy very knowledgeable!
Looking forward to this years awards and finding out who the first ever winner of the Ben St. James Author/Illustrator award will be.
Great news! I just learned that as of April 30th 2026, my TikTok channel views for the year surpassed 2,170,000.
It’s exciting and an honor to reach this milestone with four videos surpassing 400k views — one of which got over 1 million views since January.
It’s been incredible experiencing this kind of growth in only 4 months.
Author, cartoonist, and filmmaker Ben St. James has earned three official selections at the ICJ Film Awards 2026, marking a major international achievement for the multi-disciplinary creator.
Continue reading “Ben St. James Scores a Hat-Trick at the ICJ Film Awards 2026 with Three Official Selections”Have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
