SANDPOINT — The Tennessee Mule Artist Bonnie Shields has been creating pen and ink art for the Idaho State Draft Horse and Mule Show since she moved to Sandpoint in 1980.

Being a self-described “mule freak” and an artist made Shields the perfect candidate when author Liz Hughey was looking for an illustrator for her series of children’s books about packing in the backcountry with mules.

“It was wonderful,” Shields said of the opportunity to create the elaborate artwork for the series.

It was a poet and long-time friend of Shields, Baxter Black, who introduced the two after learning Hughey needed an illustrator for a book about mules. Hughey is from southern Indiana, Shields said, and after college, she decided she wanted to do something adventurous. So she went to Colorado and signed on with an outfitter. She worked in the Colorado mountains for several years, learning about packing and mules.

“Now she’s got a young son, and she wanted to tell him about her adventures as a packer,” Shields said. “So she started writing these stories.”

Each of the books in the series contains lessons for young kids, and while they each carry a serious message, they are funny as well, Shields said. The three-book series starts with “Barney the Lopsided Mule,” which is a story about a mule that is “lopsided” because he is young and doesn’t eat right because the other mules won’t let him, Shields said. The lady packer who is in charge of him helps him out with special care, feeding and encouragement until he is no longer the lopsided mule of the pack, Shields said. “It’s really cute,” she added.

The second book, “Pack String Hang-up, A Mule Trail Tale,” details the problems that can occur in a pack string when they get tangled up. Mules, unlike horses, don’t usually panic when this occurs, she said. They just stop and wait for someone to help them. So the book is about not panicking — just cooperate and everything will turn out OK.

The third book in the series, “Trash Talk,” is all about “pack it in, pack it out.”

“It is about how people like to throw things away in the wilderness, in the national forest, and the burden it is on the packers,” Shields said.

With the debut of “Trash Talk,” Shields will be signing books Saturday at the Corner Book Store, 405 N. Fourth Ave., Sandpoint. From 1-3 p.m., visitors of the book store can meet Shields, get a signed book and also explore two other children’s stories she has illustrated, including “It Will Be a Merry Christmas When Pigs Fly, and “Dog my Cats,” both written by Patsy Trigg.

Mary Malone can be reached by email at [email protected] and follow her on Twitter @MaryDailyBee.