Episode 159: When Family Stories Become A Mission: The Making Of The Homestead Kids With Brian Combs

INTRODUCTION

Hi everyone and welcome back to The Homestead Education Podcast!
Today’s guest is the creator of The Homestead Kids Books. We’ve met on the road a couple of times, and his business speaks to my heart with Homestead Education and homestead kids.

Thank you so much for being here.

ABOUT THE HOMESTEAD KIDS BOOKS

The Homestead Kids is a Christian adventure book series for roughly second through sixth graders. The stories feature three daughters as the main characters. The family moves to a new property, and the girls have all kinds of real-world homestead adventures—animals, gardening, projects, problem-solving, responsibility.

THE FAMILY STORY BEHIND THE BOOKS

The three girls were adopted in 2019. In 2020, right as COVID hit, the family had to move. Moving was triggering because the girls had experienced instability and multiple placements before adoption.

To make the move less scary and give them something to look forward to, their dad started writing bedtime stories about “us” moving to a homestead and having adventures there. Those bedtime stories became the first book.

The girls loved it so much that it turned into four full books in 2023, four more in 2024, and four more are in progress this year.

READER SUCCESS STORIES

One family at an event in Oregon said their daughter struggled to finish any book. She’d start, lose interest halfway, and drop it.

They bought the series. That night she read the entire first book in one sitting — about 120 pages. Then she read all eight books in eight days.

For a kid who “never finishes books,” that was huge.

HELPING RELUCTANT AND NEURODIVERGENT READERS

The series was intentionally built for reluctant readers, neurodivergent readers, and kids who don’t see themselves in typical school books.

A few things that make it work:

• Illustrations in full color throughout the books. Almost every chapter has its own illustration, which helps kids who are moving from picture books to chapter books.

• Larger 14-point font, instead of the typical 12-point. That makes it less intimidating for young readers.

• Two editions of every book: standard font and a dyslexic-friendly font.

About 25–30 kids (so far) have said the dyslexic-friendly version made it easier for them to read than most other books. Parents can download sample pages from the website, print them, and test them at home before buying.

This supports kids who are hands-on, high-energy, ADHD, autistic, easily frustrated by walls of text, or just “not book kids.”

These books are also fast-paced on purpose. The goal is momentum, not slog.

FAITH-BASED ADVENTURE & DAILY PRAYER

One favorite title in the series is Rosie’s Prayer.
That book walks through what it looks like for a child to pray throughout an ordinary day — not just “thank you for dinner” prayers or “goodnight” prayers, but honest, constant conversation with Jesus while real life is happening.

Prayer is presented as relationship, not ritual.

“I hope I’ve captured what it means to pray without ceasing.”

ADVENTURES IN THE SERIES

The stories are wholesome, real, and emotionally honest.

Highlights:

• The move. The first book deals with leaving a too-small property (and a neighbor’s poorly managed dog) and working toward getting onto a real homestead. The kids are part of the effort, not just passengers.

• The treasure box. In one book, Rosie explores the woods on the new property and finds a mysterious box. She has to figure out whose it is, where it came from, and why it matters.

• Addie’s Red Blanket. One daughter came into the family through foster care with a red blanket she’d had since she was two months old. In the story, that blanket is lost during the move. The book walks through grief, fear, memory, and a moment of redemption and right choice at the end.

• Homestead life. Later books include getting goats, learning to milk, making butter, harvesting from the garden, processing animals being born, and sharing meals with the wider community.

One of the newer books includes a Thanksgiving/Christmas-style community meal and the birth of baby Samuel, welcoming a new baby into the family story.

The tone covers both heart work (belonging, safety, purpose) and hands-on work (chores, animals, responsibility).

WHAT’S NEXT FOR THE HOMESTEAD KIDS

There is now also a picture book for younger kids who aren’t reading independently yet. It’s designed to be read aloud by a parent.

Book #9 in the main series, titled The Visitor, is already on its way. It follows a series of unexplained events on the homestead. It’s wholesome, warm, and a little mysterious.

Another project in development is a spin-off “Bible story” sub-series:

• The framing is Dad sitting by the fire reading the Bible.

• The kids ask questions and go off on little thought adventures.

• The story focuses on “What does this mean for us right now?” instead of only retelling the basic Sunday-school summary.

Those will require deep research into each passage to make sure the storytelling is biblically faithful, age-appropriate, and vivid enough that kids can actually picture it.

BECOMING AN AUTHOR (WITHOUT “BEING A WRITER”)

Before all of this, there was zero plan to “become an author.”

Creativity had always looked like building: structures, treehouses, physical projects — not “art.” Writing felt out of reach, honestly.

Because it started as bedtime stories for the kids, the pressure wasn’t there. That made it possible.

The children’s reaction (“Read it again! Can we keep going?”) created the confidence to turn those stories into actual chapters, then books, then a series.

A close friend, Jeanette, now helps flesh out ideas, build chapters, and shape story arcs. That collaboration made the process more sustainable and gave both of them confidence to keep publishing.

SELF-PUBLISHING (AND WHY IT MATTERED)

Traditional publishing was explored — but there were major tradeoffs:

• One publisher liked the series but wanted to tone down or remove some Christian elements, including direct scripture quotes. That was a hard no.

• Another publisher was supportive but would only release one book per year. At that point, there were already four nearly ready.

So the decision was to independently publish through platforms like Amazon KDP and IngramSpark.

Indie publishing means:

• Full control of the message.

• Full control of how strongly faith is presented.

• The ability to release multiple books in a year.

• Direct connection to families.

Yes, formatting for print is a beast (especially margins — anyone who’s uploaded to KDP is nodding right now). But holding the first physical proof was “I can’t believe we made this.”

The vision is growing beyond just books: puzzles and physical extras, picture books, and even a lullaby-based book called Hush, Little One.
That lullaby was written over months while rocking the babies to sleep, and a local composer has now scored it so it can become both a picture book and a real song.

CHOOSE-YOUR-OWN ADVENTURE… FOR HOMESTEAD KIDS?

There’s interest in eventually doing a homestead-style Choose Your Own Adventure. It fits perfectly: homesteading is constant decision-making.

Which animal do you bring in first? Do you fix the fence or try to catch the goat? Do you barter or buy?

Structurally, it’s tricky (branching paths, repeated text blocks, etc.), but it’s on the idea board.

BUILDING COMMUNITY & “KEEP GROWING”

What does “keep growing” mean?

Keep growing means: keep growing personally, and keep growing in community — on purpose.

In East Texas, several local families work together every week. Everyone goes to one home and tackles a job that would feel impossible alone. Two or three hours of help from friends can knock out something that would have taken one exhausted parent days.

It’s not “wait for community.” It’s “live community.”

It’s the same lesson as that old saying:
The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago.
The second-best time is today.

The same is true with people. Don’t just wish your church or town “had more fellowship.” Invite people. Cook for them. Show up. Build it.

Don’t complain about what you’re not also willing to offer.

That mindset has shaped everything: homesteading, faith, friendship, and these books.

WHERE TO FIND THE HOMESTEAD KIDS BOOKS

• Facebook: The Homestead Kids

• Website: thehomesteadkidsbooks.com

From the website you can:

• Order directly (which supports the family more than Amazon).

• Get the full set at a discount.

• Download chapters 1 and 2 from each book to preview with your kids.

• Download the dyslexic-friendly font samples to print and test at home.

• Reach out about events and festivals.

Yes, the family personally packs and ships the orders. There’s even a sweet touch: when the kids help pack, they pick a sticker to include in each order based on what they “think that family will like most.”

There are plans to attend multiple homestead festivals in the coming year — with the kids — so that families can meet the authors in person, flip through physical books, and talk about reading, adoption, homesteading, faith, and raising capable kids.

Thank you so much for coming on and sharing this.
These books are such a gift for hands-on, reluctant, homestead-minded readers.

Everyone listening: go check out The Homestead Kids Books.