If you could go back 5 years to ask Atlanta native Jimmie Barr if he was ever going to author a children’s book, the answer would have been a resounding “No”. While Jimmie was no stranger to written word - he had been writing music for quite some time and even has an award or two under his belt, the thought of writing a book had never seriously crossed his mind. However, when the family added another member in the form of daughter Carlee, Jimmie was inspired.

For most writers, penning a book is a pretty big deal that involves a ton of thought and time just sitting and writing. Jimmie, on the other hand, took a different approach. “I had zero Interest or intention of EVER writing a book. My grammar is pitiful!” Jimmie tells me. “However one morning at work I was thinking of my daughter and it just made me really happy. The thought literally popped into my head - ‘Hey, you should write a children’s book.’” So, Jimmie wrote a book for children that very same day, during his shift working in logistics. “Writing lyrics is fairly easy for me, surprisingly, this came to me very easily. I had to write about something that would keep me interested and what’s not to like about Dragons?”

“Carlee the Princess Dragon” is tale that follows the newborn dragon, Carlee, as she explores the world and goes on her very first adventures. While the book vcarries his daughter’s name, Jimmie explains to me that the dragon family presented in book have characteristics of other members of his family. “The cool thing about the Dragon family in the book is my children had influences on the way they were designed. My youngest son Ryker, who is 10 years old, his favorite color is orange. Ryker is also a curious boy. The orange dragon reflects that. The green dragon represents my 14 year old son Landen. He is constantly watching over his sister to make sure she is safe. The purple Dragon represents my wife, as that is her favorite color. The puprple dragon even has a beauty mark exactly where my wife does.” Jimmie’s family was also very involved in the long process that is required to get a book to publishing. Jimmie mentions that his children were especially excited during the illustration phase, when they had about a dozen different styles to choose from. 

From there, Jimmie worked with the publishing company known as Fulton Books, and his spur of the moment book idea really started to come to life. Flash forward a handful of months and now “Carless the Princess Dragon” can be found at the Barnes and Nobles bookstore in Bloomington-Normal, and on various sites on-line with Amazon being the most notable (Note: if searching on Amazon, searching “Jimmie Barr” works best). When asked if he plans on writing any more books or even a sequel to “Carlee the Princess Dragon”, Jimmie was open to the idea and acknowledged that “Carlee” has a couple untied ends that would allow for a possible second book.

On top of his new book, Jimmie is also an accomplished songwriter. His array of music can be found on all major streaming sites. Be sure to check out “Full Throttle” which won the World Songwriter Award. Jimmie currently lives with his family in Port St. Lucie, Florida.