For seven years, Kay Witschen has brought her popular children’s stories to Annandale through Minnesota Pioneer Park’s annual craft fair. This year she is inviting her fans to accompany her back to the coal mines of Rimersburg, Pa., with her newest book, “Johnny Coalboy.” The less than 100 page adventure intended for readers ages eight through 12 was printed earlier this month and will make its second appearance ever at Witschen’s booth at Pioneer Park Saturday, Oct. 25. Selling and signing Witschen will be there selling and signing copies along with more than a dozen other crafters peddling their wares at the park’s annual Holiday Craft Fair. The event will run from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. “I really like Pioneer Park,” said the veteran crafter. Witschen participates in eight or nine craft fairs around Minnesota every fall. During the winter months she has success at events in San Juan, Texas. “The people who come through at Pioneer Park are so upbeat. We always have such a good time and the atmosphere is great.” Witschen and her daughter Cindy Witschen-Boelz attend the event together every year. They also sell crafts such as microwave cozies and decorative tissue box covers. Annandale has already seen the likes of three other children’s books by Witschen including “Clinker’s Flea,” “Clinker Meets the Flying Squirrel” and “Clinker’s Shadow.” The main character, Clinker, is a mischievous dog always ready to make an unlikely friend or learn a lesson. “Parents like the books and sometimes kids will walk by my booth and say, ‘I have your book,’” said Witschen, who admits to being a fastidious writer who won’t quit until her work is as perfect as she can get it. While the Clinker series is geared toward children ages preschool to eight, “Johnny Coalboy” is intended as a middle reader for slightly more advanced children. It is Witschen’s first attempt at a longer, more complex story. “‘Johnny Coalboy’ is something that I have been thinking about for a long time,” said Witschen. She was inspired by her father, who began working in the coal mines when he was 10 years old. In the story, Johnny takes up the back-breaking and dangerous profession at the tender age of 12 because his family needs the extra income. Singing canary He is taken out of school away from his friends and sent into the mines where his only companion is a singing canary. “Cave-ins were the top danger of coal mining, but there was also the threat of electrocution and gas inhalation,” said Witschen, whose father mined coal in Pennsylvania until she was 12 years old. Workers brought canaries with them into the mines as a safety precaution against gas leaks. A dead canary meant miners should get out quickly. In the story, Johnny makes friends with the canary and even begins to think the bird has the ability to talk. When a cave-in traps the two for days in a dark tunnel, the canary is his only friend and link to the world. “Johnny Coalboy” was intended as a “tiny glimpse into a life that is unfamiliar to many children,” said Witschen. Witschen lives just north of Clear Lake, about 20 miles north of Annandale. She is a St. Cloud State University graduate and former Foley branch librarian. She met her husband, Dick, while she was in the Marine Corps. More concepts “My husband shudders every time I tell him I have another book idea,” laughed Witschen, who has several more concepts on the back burner. Witschen is self-published and her husband is the mastermind behind much of the business end as well as their web site, www.dwittpublishing.com. “I prefer to write,” she said.