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Ponoka author publishes childrens’ book based on her pet dog

By Sam Donnelly
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Krystal Davidson. Photo submitted.

By Sam Donnelly

For Ponoka News

It’s hard to go through a tragedy, but it’s even harder to take that tragedy and create something wonderful out of it. Ponoka local Krystal Davidson did just that when she wrote her first children’s book.

Frank the Tank Adventures: City Boy to Country Bumpkin follows the adventures of her boxer Frank as he finds his way in the world after moving from a big city to a small town.

The real-life Frank came into Davidson’s life after her husband, Tyler Davidson, tragically fell 43 feet onto his head while ice climbing. Tyler Davidson had little chance of living; however, he defied all expectations and is now doing much better. According to Krystal, when they got Frank, he quickly became a therapy support dog for both of them.

“I’m so happy Frank came into our lives; he’s exactly what we needed,” said Krystal.

When living in Edmonton became too difficult for the couple, they decided to move to Krystal’s hometown, Ponoka. They now live just outside of the town.

Krystal said both her and Tyler loved the way Frank would interact with the world. So much so that she began to write down what Frank was doing.

When one of Krystal’s coworkers saw what she had written, they told her she needed to turn that into a book. So far, the book has done very well reaching number 21 on Amazon’s hot new releases of children’s book.

Krystal described her writing process as kind of slow with all the editing and rereading the process involves.

“It’s almost indescribable with all the little things,” said Krystal. She also said the story is about how change can be scary but can also lead to wonderful things.

“Anyone can write a book.”

Krystal said when asked about her advice for young writers. She went on to say all one needs to do is start and follow through.

Continuing, she mentioned the best piece of writing advice she had received, “ask who’s your character, what do they love most and how do you take it away from them.”

When she isn’t writing Krystal is a senior therapeutic counselor working in research at Amygdala & Associates.

Krystal is currently working on a sequel to Frank the Tank Adventures: City Boy to Country Bumpkin called Frank the Tank Adventures: Merry Christmas Mr Frank. According to Krystal the book should be released around Christmastime next year.