The heart behind the stories, the dog beside them, and the quiet path that turned storytime into a world of books, comfort, and kindness
Storyteller, artist, and creator of the Norbert Barkah Chronicles
I've been telling children's stories since I was a teen, first with my nephews, then for their children, and later for the kids who found their way to Camp Sue. My nephew started calling me that years ago, and the name stayed. Storytelling has always been one of the ways I love people. I would turn ordinary days into adventures, sew costumes, dream up characters, and make bedtime feel like stepping through a hidden door.
Long before Norbert, I was already making story worlds.
Then Norbert came along.
He was my first dog, and he changed the rhythm of my life. He needed a kind of care I had never known before. I talked to him in full sentences, even when people thought that was silly. I still do. I think that is part of why he understands so much. He got me outside every day, walking in the forest, slowing down, paying attention, and noticing what matters. He became my companion in the woods, and later, the quiet heart of storytime.
When I first started sharing Norbert online, I was building a platform to help me find a literary agent for my lifelong dream project, my Oracle Cards. In the beginning, I was simply making videos of Norbert living his life. Then one of them went viral and reached 2.5 million views.
As Norbert gained followers, I felt the pressure to keep showing up, keep creating, and keep the algorithm fed. I needed to up my game. I also needed real numbers for my book proposal. Around that time, I heard a psychologist on TikTok say, "Don't pull the rope. If you don't pull, there's no fight." I sat with that. I meditated. Then the dog story came.
I typed it out with one finger into the notepad on my phone, dropped it into a teleprompter, and read it to Norbert. He did what he always does. He settled in. He fell asleep. He snored. People loved it. Then came the comment that changed everything: where can I buy the book? There was no book yet, so I got busy painting with watercolors. I hadn't painted in years. Could I do this? I was ready to try.
I was living in a world that felt increasingly divided, and I wanted to answer that in the only way I knew how, with stories. Not stories that lecture. Stories that show. Stories told through metaphor, where a dog, a wingless fairy named Lyra, and an enchanted forest help children and grown-ups find their way through bullying, fear, courage, kindness, and belonging.
Now I write and illustrate from this growing enchanted world. The Norbert Barkah Chronicles began there, and the forest keeps widening. Sophia lives there too, along with other threads still taking shape.
I want people to feel they have found a safe place to land. If the stories help them soften, even a little, then this work has done what it came to do. Kindness is the bridge.
The heart of this world
Norbert Barkah is the heart of this world. He is a gentle, wise, deeply feeling dog whose presence changes the space around him. With his expressive eyes, soft spirit, and torn ear that seems to carry its own bit of earned wisdom, he has a way of making people feel safe before a single word is spoken. He is not performing. He is simply being who he is, and that honesty is part of why people love him.
What makes Norbert so special is not only how he looks, but how he listens. He sits beside the stories as if he knows they matter. He brings warmth, steadiness, and a quiet kind of magic to everything we share. For many people, Norbert is the doorway into the enchanted forest. He is the faithful companion who makes the stories feel real, lived, and full of heart.
Norbert rides in the back seat of the Tacoma. We take our rides together -- I talk to him, tell him the plan for the day, think out loud. He listens the way only Norbert can. That is where we figure things out. That is where it all begins.
One of those rides turned into a video. I was talking to him, telling him things -- and someone was watching. That video went on to reach 2.5 million views. It was the moment everything changed. The community that gathered around Norbert, the book, the enchanted forest -- it all traces back to the truck.
These stories matter because people are hungry for gentleness that does not talk down to them. Children feel more than we often give them credit for, and grown-ups do too. A story can help us hold fear, grief, tenderness, and hope in a way that feels safe. It can show us courage without hardness, kindness without weakness, and healing without pressure. That is what I hope these stories offer.
At their core, these stories are about remembering. Remembering that kindness matters. Remembering that imagination can heal. Remembering that even in uncertain times, there is still inner light to guide us forward. Through Norbert, the enchanted forest, and the stories themselves, I want to give people something steady they can return to, something that helps them breathe, feel, and believe in goodness again.
Explore the Books
Ahwatukee City Lifestyle · August 2025
Norbert was featured on the cover of the Kids and Pets edition of Ahwatukee City Lifestyle magazine. The article tells the story of how morning pep talks with Norbert grew into storytime videos, a published children's book, and a community of over 56,000 followers united by kindness.
Read the Article
Norbert