PRAIRIE VIRTUES Stories from Prairie Junction, Kansas
A Prairie Virtues series

Mabel & Friends

In the little town of Prairie Junction, Kansas, a field mouse named Mabel keeps company with six friends — an armadillo in too-big boots, a bison with a bandana, a lightning bug with a heart-shaped glow, a raccoon who fixes things, a very quiet lamb, and a girl who builds melon machines. Ten books. Ten virtues. One small town you’ll want to visit again.

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Cover of Mabel and Friends Book 1: Mabel Says Hello — Mabel the field mouse arriving in Prairie Junction
Book 1 — where the hellos begin
The Shelf

All ten books, in reading order

Start with Mabel’s hello and read straight through — or dip into whichever friend your little reader falls for first. Every book stands on its own; every book rewards reading the others.

Cover of Mabel and Friends Book 1: Mabel Says Hello
Mabel and Friends · Book 1

Mabel Says Hello

Friendship

Mabel the field mouse is brand-new in Prairie Junction. With a pencil, a blank scorecard, and one brave word — hello — she sets out to make six friends.

by Ryan Wilson Projects
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Cover of Mabel and Friends Book 2: Pickle's Too-Big Boots
Mabel and Friends · Book 2

Pickle’s Too-Big Boots

Perseverance

Pickle’s red boots are way too big, and boot-stomp practice is a flop-thump-roll disaster. But fair day is coming — and Pickle always gets up one more time.

by Ryan Wilson Projects
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Cover of Mabel and Friends Book 3: Bram and the Broken Gate
Mabel and Friends · Book 3

Bram and the Broken Gate

Responsibility

Latching the pasture gate is Bram’s job. The morning he forgets, the whole herd ends up downtown — and Bram learns that a job that’s yours is yours.

by Ryan Wilson Projects
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Cover of Mabel and Friends Book 4: Lulu Lights the Way
Mabel and Friends · Book 4

Lulu Lights the Way

Compassion

The new firefly at the festival glows a color nobody has ever seen, and everyone flutters away — except Lulu, who knows that feeling, and flies over first.

by Ryan Wilson Projects
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Cover of Mabel and Friends Book 5: Tinker Fixes Everything (Almost)
Mabel and Friends · Book 5

Tinker Fixes Everything (Almost)

Work

Tinker can fix anything in town — except the wobbly step at his own workshop. On first-snow day, half of Prairie Junction lines up at his door.

by Ryan Wilson Projects
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Cover of Mabel and Friends Book 6: Shep Hears the Shepherd
Mabel and Friends · Book 6

Shep Hears the Shepherd

Faith

A big storm drowns out every familiar sound on the hills. Little Shep has to stop, be still, and listen for the one voice he knows best.

by Ryan Wilson Projects
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Cover of Mabel and Friends Book 7: Junebug and the Runaway Watermelon
Mabel and Friends · Book 7

Junebug and the Runaway Watermelon

Honesty

Junebug’s Melon-Loader 3000 works perfectly — right into the mayor’s convertible. Now she has about four seconds to decide what an inventor does next.

by Ryan Wilson Projects
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Cover of Mabel and Friends Book 8: The Night the Lights Went Out
Mabel and Friends · Book 8

The Night the Lights Went Out

Courage

A storm knocks out the fairground lights on parade night. Seven friends, seven small lights, one dark route — scared is okay. Forward anyway.

by Ryan Wilson Projects
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Cover of Mabel and Friends Book 9: The Meeting Tree Band
Mabel and Friends · Book 9

The Meeting Tree Band

Self-Discipline

The friends start a band for the Harvest Festival, and Mabel’s practice chart tells the truth: it takes a little bit of practice, every single day.

by Ryan Wilson Projects
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Cover of Mabel and Friends Book 10: Mabel's Notebook
Mabel and Friends · Book 10

Mabel’s Notebook

Loyalty

When the notebook holding all their stories slips into the creek, Mabel’s friends retell every adventure back to her — and rebuild the book together.

by Ryan Wilson Projects
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The Cast

Meet the friends

Seven friends, one small town. You’ll spot every one of them in every book — sometimes center stage, sometimes waving from the crowd.

Mabel

The Field Mouse

The little mouse with the sunflower-yellow bow who turns up in every single book — pencil, scorecard, and chalk in paw. Mabel believes a friend is someone who shows up.

Pickle

The Armadillo

Round, rolly, and nearly unstoppable in his too-big red boots. Pickle falls down a lot. He also gets up one more time than he falls — every time.

Bram

The Bison

The biggest kid on the prairie, in a sky-blue bandana that earns a new patch with every adventure. Bram is the gatekeeper — and a job that’s his is his.

Lulu

The Lightning Bug

Lulu’s glow is golden and heart-shaped. She knows how it feels when your light looks different — which is why she’s always the first to fly over.

Tinker

The Raccoon

Mask, red tool belt, exactly three tools, and a workshop that can fix anything in Prairie Junction. Well… almost anything. The step is another story.

Little Shep

The Lamb

Cream wool, one black ear, and a small brass bell. Shep is the quiet one — the friend who stops, gets still, and listens better than anybody.

Junebug Parker

The Inventor

Prairie Junction’s resident builder: overalls, a sunflower pin, and a lab notebook thicker than she is. Her Melon-Loader 3000 is famous all over town.

The Grown-Up Page

For parents & teachers

Stories first, always. Here’s what’s quietly built into every Prairie Virtues book.

One virtue, lived out loud

Each book carries one classic virtue — friendship, perseverance, responsibility, compassion, work, faith, honesty, courage, self-discipline, loyalty. No book ever names its lesson or ends with a moral. The virtue is simply what the character does, so children absorb it the way they learn everything: by living it alongside a friend for twelve spreads.

A hidden treasure in every book

Every book hides one tiny object in its artwork — a little red boot, a heart-glow ember, a stick of chalk, a silver triangle — the very same small treasure tucked into every picture. A finder page in the back turns each re-read into a treasure hunt, and gives wiggly readers a reason to go slowly.

Ages & formats

Books 1–6 and 8–10 are 32-page picture books (8.5″ square) for ages 3–6, written for read-aloud rhythm with a refrain little listeners can chant. Book 7, Junebug and the Runaway Watermelon, is a chaptered early reader for ages 5–8. Book 6, Shep’s story, is our gentle faith-lane title, written for church and family shelves.

Coming soon to Amazon

The books are in final layout now and headed to Amazon in paperback and Kindle. Until then, every book above is free to peek inside — enjoy story time on us.

From Ryan Wilson Projects

Every Prairie Virtues book is written, illustrated, and published by Ryan Wilson Projects, a Kansas creative studio. Behind the studio is Jeremy Ryan Durham — its publisher and creative director — who dreamed up Prairie Junction and its seven friends and directs every story from first sketch to final page, working alongside his digital crew. By day he teaches networking, cybersecurity, and AI at Cowley College in Arkansas City, in the tallgrass country these stories call home. The studio’s motto, borrowed from the books: the best lessons aren’t lectured — they’re lived, preferably with friends, and preferably outdoors.