The editorial review for Cowboy Cooper and the Ghost Town is now live

“Cowboy Cooper and the Ghost Town is a children’s picture book written and illustrated by Ben St. James. It follows Cooper McGee, affectionately known as Cowboy Cooper to his family and friends due to his love for the Old West. One day, Cowboy Cooper’s teacher introduces the class to an abandoned ghost town near his family’s farm. Excited about the possibility of exploring, Cowboy Cooper decides to search for treasures in the town.

Continue reading “Cowboy Cooper: Reader’s Favorite Review Page is Live!”

The Purple Dragonfly Awards, run by Story Monsters LLC, recognize excellence in children’s literature across multiple categories.

Guinea Pig Power has tied for 2nd place in the Humor category at the 2025 Story Monsters Purple Dragonfly Book Awards.

Judges look for books that are well-written, visually appealing, and engaging for young readers.

Continue reading “Guinea Pig Power Wins 2nd Place at the 2025 Purple Dragonfly Awards”

Cowboy Cooper shows staying power as a new release

After being released July 4th, Cowboy Cooper and the Ghost Town has maintained Top New Release status for a full 4 weeks in a row on Amazon.com

Cowboy Cooper holds steady at the top spot for over 1 week since launching.

Cowboy Cooper held onto its top Hot New Release status in 4 categories:

Children’s Exploration (Paperbacks)

Children’s US Western Historical Fiction (eBooks)

Children’s Exploration History (eBooks)

Children’s Western American Historical Fiction (eBooks)

Here is what some readers are saying on Goodreads.

“This children’s book is a good example of an important message mixed within an interesting story. The illustrations are spot on with the story, allowing the message to shine and enhance a child’s entertainment. The only question… Will there be more stories with Cowboy Cooper to follow?”

– Kelly Knapp

“Cute book with a moral message children can understand. Illustrations are sweet and not scary. My grandchildren liked this book.”

– Lisa Hurst

“This was very cute and fun to read. I can’t think of a better way to reach kids about stealing and preserving history!”

– EstephBooks

A surprise update from North of the Border

The Cowboy Cooper paperback book reached #22 in Children’s Books on the History of Exploration & Discoveries & #1 in the Hot New Releases sub category in that format.

A new design to promote the book

I’ll be sharing these on my adventures.

There are other promotional items that you can print out at home as well.

Free Downloads: Cowboy Cooper Coloring Page, Word Search, & Answer Key

Traditionally published Children’s author Natalia Paruzel-Gibson wrote a detailed review of the soon-to-be released book “Cowboy Cooper and the Ghost Town”

Natalia wrote “A Picture Day to Remember”, published by Clavis Books, as well as her self-published debut “Something Lost, Something Found”. She shares special insights into the upcoming story “Cowboy Cooper and the Ghost Town” by Ben St. James — a book that shares ideas about preserving history and how learning can inspire creativity.

Continue reading “Early Review by a Fellow Author”

Visited the L.A. Festival of Books this weekend and finally met one of the authors I’ve worked with online in person. The festival felt bigger than ever — packed. Maybe audiences are turning back to books.

Check out this month’s #drawthis

I’m going to try to keep up with the monthly prompts, especially if I am in writing mode, like I am this year.

This one was fun and it was completed in time for tonights astrological event the spring Pink Super Moon.

Check out my newest coloring page, it features Cooper McGee and his horse McKinley.

You can download it via the link below.

Download here!

A quick update! A song I co-wrote for a secret project got recognized as a semi-finalist in the American Songwriter contest.

I don’t get to do music much so this was a fun happening and it is an honor to be recognized.

I recently sat down with Feathered Quill to chat about Guinea Pig Power, my journey from ghostwriting to accredited author, and what’s next! I shared how a guinea pig rescue inspired the story, the challenge of creating the book and it’s upcoming sequel.

Check out the full interview on Feathered Quill for more behind-the-scenes details!

Continue reading “Feathered Quill Interview”

Share Literacy – get a Free Book!

To celebrate my live author reading at Everest Value School as part of their Literacy Workshop, I am giving away my debut book “Guinea Pig Power” this weekend. Its free on Amazon KDP.

Click the link below.

https://a.co/d/2IEGmjM

Update: Guinea Pig Power flew to #1 and #2 in the Free Ebook charts on Amazon.com and reached #1 on Amazon.ca

Continue reading “Guinea Pig Power Ebook Free This Weekend”

Find out what he thought about Cowboy Cooper

Cowboy Cooper and the Ghost Town was such a fun read! What better way to educate children about the importance of historic preservation than having Cowboy Cooper learn the hard way the negative ramifications of taking historic artifacts for his personal collection rather than leaving them in place for all to enjoy and to learn about the past. Ben St. James is to be lauded for finding a relatable way for children to engage with historic preservation! This book should be required reading for all of the children and grandchildren of the members of my association. I look forward to being able to provide this book to many of the elementary school teachers that I know.

Continue reading “Cowboy Cooper Review by Historian Travis Boley”

See what the Story Monsters team shared.

The team at Story Monsters was kind enough to put me on blast – in a good way by sharing a photo of me holding my winner’s certificate with their social media community.