Christmas chaos: Southside author uses family story for new children’s book

The beautifully decorated Christmas tree was no match for a pair of mischievious 2-year-old twins.

Tyler G. Mitchell watched as his younger brothers tore like a whirlwind through his family’s home. Working together, they couldn’t leave the brightly lit tree alone. His parents were exasperated; they didn’t know how to keep their holiday centerpiece safe.

Until they decided to hang it from the ceiling.

“With twins, they come up with things you’d never think of. We just couldn’t keep them out of the tree,” he said. “My dad, as creative as he is, said he was going to put it upside down.”

The tale of the inverted Christmas tree is legend in Mitchell’s family. Now, the Franklin Township resident is sharing it with readers all over the world.

Mitchell has turned his family’s story into its own children’s book. “Double Trouble and the Upside Down Christmas Tree” tells about that chaotic Christmas, and the ingenious way his father protected their family tannenbaum.

Being able to bring the unique story to life — with his family and friends to help — has been a thrilling experience.

“I can’t say enough about how much I want to thank everyone who helped with this. It’s a ‘we’ thing. This is our book, because I had to have a lot of people help me with the wording,” he said.

Mitchell, who serves in the U.S. Army on active duty at Fort Knox in Kentucky, deals with the written word every day as a public affairs officer. But the idea to pen a children’s book was something completely different.

“I write and I do video for the Army, which I enjoy. But everything I do for the Army is primarily focused on the organization, its people and its goals,” he said. “This is my story about my family. I have full complete creative control in it, and it was great to finally be able to do that.”

He knew that his family’s upside-down Christmas tree story was one of a kind. Growing up on Sycamore Street in Boonville, located near Evansville, his twin brothers were a menace when it came to their Christmas tree — until his father mounted it from the ceiling.

“No one ever believes that story; everyone thinks it’s funny. But I always thought it would be a really funny story for kids,” he said.

His book is a story about a young family with three children, including twin toddlers who are experts at getting into trouble. This is especially true when it comes to their Christmas tree, prompting their dad to get creative and hang it from the ceiling to keep their little hands off it.

“The book is the daily chaos of what it was like until the tree was upside down,” Mitchell said.

About one year ago, Mitchell started seriously working on the book. He sketched out the different scenes and figured out how it would work. Writing stopped, though, as he pondered one obstacle in his way.

“To me, I never thought the story would work unless I had video of it. So I stopped and tried to find a video. I asked everyone, but no one had video,” he said. “Lo and behold, at my grandma’s house, I found two VHS tapes that said ‘Upside Down Christmas Tree.’ If that’s not a sign that I should move forward with this, I don’t know what is.”

With the video evidence of their unique solution in hand, Mitchell threw himself into completing the project. He found an illustrator, Brian Dumm, an artist who captured Mitchell’s vision in bold drawings.

“Double Trouble and the Upside Down Christmas Tree” was independently published and came out on Nov. 30.

Mitchell has been sharing the book at storytimes and signings in southern Indiana and Kentucky, while hosting an event on Saturday in Greenwood.

In early December, he and his family rode in Boonville Merchant’s Association Christmas parade on a float with the book’s cover art and, of course, an upside-down Christmas tree.

It’s been a delight to not only share the story among people who know him in Indiana, but to have the book travel all over the country and around the world as well.

“Yes, this is Indiana’s Christmas story. But if you like to laugh and talk about Christmas, talk about how grandparents are important in a child’s life, talk about how to stay on the nice list, this is your book,” he said. “It’s an Indiana story everyone can enjoy.”

With one book under wraps, Mitchell has his sights set on a few more future stories that he’d like to tell.

“My wife saw me sketching out my next one, and she told me, ‘It sounds like you have two in there.’ So it looks like I have two more cooking, but time will tell,” he said.

AT A GLANCE

”Double Trouble and the Upside Down Christmas Tree”

Author: Tyler G. Mitchell, a Franklin Township resident

Where to get it: Available at Barnes & Noble, 1251 U.S. 31 N., Greenwood. The book is also available on Amazon.