About the author
S.C. Burklund is the creator of Burly the Squirrel™, a children’s book series designed to help young readers build confidence with early counting and reading through participation and play. His work is shaped by both personal experience and time spent in early childhood classrooms.
After completing studies at Seattle Central College, Burklund spent three years living overseas before returning to Seattle, where he worked in early childhood education, beginning as a substitute teacher and later becoming full-time. There, he observed how children learned to count and read in group settings, and how engagement increased when learning was visual, structured, and interactive.
Years later, as a father, Burklund created original bedtime stories for his daughter during her early years. As she grew older, he drew on his classroom experience to develop the visual counting path and progressive sequential counting method that defines Burly the Squirrel™—an approach designed to keep children actively involved rather than passively following along.
His books encourage participation, repetition, and playful thinking to support early math and reading development for a wide range of learners.