eBook Descriptions
The purchasing links on this page will be activated in 2012!
The Boy from the Sun, Night Wall (Night Walkers), and Spacesnake are also available in hard cover. To order hardcover copies of these books go to Chapters/Indigo, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or your local library.Other eBook titles will become available in hardcover in the future.
Age: Ageless
Inspired by a dream and a flash of morning sunlight, this story begins when a boy who drops from the sky takes three sad children into a timeless forest. The children are awestruck by the beauty of the forest, animals and people. Before the boy from the sun leaves the children, he recites a poem about the fantastic opportunities that come from Chance, Choice, and Change.
The original version won the 2007 Governor General's Award and the 2008 Ruth and Silvia Schwartz Children's Picture Book Award, Canada's top two literary awards for children's publishing. The eBook version contains 8 additional illustrations.
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Buy eBook - will be activated in 2012 - ISBN: 978-0-9869284-0-6
Night Walkers
Ages: 6 – 12 (With contemporary themes for parents and collectors alike.)
Julie's first assignement as caretaker is to care for a young girl named Sara whose parents have run into some trouble. Julie is determined to do a good job and takes Sara from Seattle to a cabin in the woods of British Columbia. Mysterious forces begin to work against Julie when a wall is built around the cabin. As monsters creep out of the woods, Julie is frightened, but Sara is delighted.
Buy eBook - will be activated in 2012 - ISBN: 978-0-9869284-1-3
Spacesnake
Ages: 5 – 12
On a little colony of asteroids, a Spacesnake fires up its rockets to scare the daylights out of the Asterians. Thinking that all the Asterians have hidden themselves in their asteroids the Spacesnake shows its true colors by shedding its armor and sampling the delectable goodies from the Asterbake. When his plot against the Asterians is foiled by a little boy, he broods alone in space until a small Asterian arrives for a friendly visit.
Buy eBook - will be activated in 2012 - - ISBN: 978-0-9869284-2-0
The Love Ant
Age: 5 – 12
Hamish, a love bird, is too tired to deliver an important letter to his girlfriend, Laurette. Hamish asks his friend, an ant, to deliver the letter for him. The ant is delighted to help. To accomplish his mission, the ant must stay on the one and only vine that will take him to Laurette’s home. Along the way, he meets other creatures in the jungle who cause him to reflect on his mission and try to tempt him away from the vine. The surprising and humourous ending reveals a moral: you can’t take love for granted.
Buy eBook - will be activated in 2012 - ISBN: 978-0-9869284-6-8
The Chameleon Snake
Ages: 4 – 12 (With contemporary themes for parents and collectors alike.)
Habu is a snake with a big appetite for devouring all kinds of creatures. When he decides to go see a play at the Jungle Library, Habu is determined to practice restraint, but his journey there is filled with temptation. With great effort he succeeds, bringing unexpected results and delightful surprises.
Buy eBook - will be activated in April, 2012 - ISBN: 978-0-9869284-7-5
Big Electric Cat
Ages: 5 – 11
A huge electronic theme-park monster has escaped from Canada and is hiding somewhere in Mexico. Felix, a homeless boy, hears about strange goings-on in a small Mexican town called Bello and travels there to find the Big Electric Cat battling a giant tornado in order to save the small town from destruction.
Buy eBook - will be activated in 2012 - ISBN: 978-0-9869284-3-7
RATS!
Ages: 5 – 9 (With contemporary themes for parents and collectors alike.)
Rats, rats, rats! There are lots of rats in this long poem about rats running around in circles being rats. Where are they from? Are they dangerous? Or are they just rats? At 75 pages, this eBook contains a long poem, a gallery, and two other stories, "Pindakaas" and "Skate Park Escape."
Buy eBook - will be activated in 2012 - ISBN: 978-0-9869284-8-2
The Ugg and the Drip
Ages: 6 – 12
The residents of the city of the Great Tube are losing their minds! High above their homes, a small pipe has a leak which drip, drip, drips, so sharply at night that no one can sleep. After a stranger to the city, Dr. Yes, shows everyone how to make a pair of ear-mugs to block the sound, the residents sleep so deeply that they forget to listen for the Ugg. When the Ugg destroys buildings in the Great Tube, the furious residents banish Dr. Yes. He sets out to find the Ugg, educate him, and return in triumph. Will he succeed?
Buy eBook - will be activated in 2012 - ISBN: 978-0-9869284-4-4
The Ugg Travels
Ages: 6 – 12 (With contemporary themes for parents and collectors alike.)
A new adventure with the Ugg begins on Earth when the creature runs away from his home, an underground tube. Dr. Yes and Dox begin to search for him, only to find that the distribution of all oil and gasoline has mysteriously stopped, making it impossible to travel by car, plane, or train. After meeting up with Princess Emma from Norway, they find other ways to travel and discover an exciting world of variety. But their arrival at the Tar Sands reveals the horrible truth that you can't take the beauty of the world for granted. The Ugg certainly doesn't. This book has 65 original illustrations.
Buy eBook - will be activated in 2012 - ISBN: 978-0-9869284-5-1
The Castle Invaded
Ages: 6 – 12 (With contemporary themes for parents and collectors alike.) Based on an animated short film, this story was created for a police department to help children deal with their emotions after experiencing a break-and-enter, in their home.
Arriving home to their castle in the forest a family discovers that monsters have broken in and have ransacked their home. By supporting each other and fighting their fears, the family drives out the monsters.
Buy eBook - will be activated in April, 2012 - ISBN: 978-0-9869284-9-9
Future Books
eBooks and hardcover
Should any of these books become very popular Duncan is open to discussing options with an established publisher.
The following books are at various stages of completion. Financial support from the Ontario Arts Council has been instrumental in the development of The Girl from the Moon, Tiger Dream, and Lara Wood. All works below contain contemporary themes for parents and collectors alike.The Ugg Saves the World
When the Ugg causes damage to the city, the residents decide he cannot be taught, and is locked up. With help from his friends, he escapes and goes on a run which leads to Dr. Yes finally solving the mystery behind the Ugg's need to explore and wreck old buildings. But there's bigger trouble threatening the city, and Dr. Yes realizes that the Ugg is just the right creature to save the world.ISBN: 978-0-9869382-3-8
Undercats
Young Adult Novel
Near the town of Prince Lake in the mountains of British Columbia, a large mysterious structure with a WWII past has been rebuilt into a car factory. Nearby, a genetic mix of bears and wild cats has developed the ability to walk on two legs, talk, and create their own culture. Their underground lair is slowly decaying as tensions between two opposing groups is coming to a head. One group is planning acts of terrorism against the humans in Prince Lake, while the other is hatching a plot to kidnap a young boy who represents the best of human nautre, or so they assume. Their plot succeeds when they nab Jimmy who then becomes "Upcat." At first, Jimmy is an eager participant who helps his new and very strange friends. But after he suffers beatings and betrayals, an ugly side of his nature emerges. With their future hinging on Upcat, the decisions he makes could either save or destroy the Undercats forever.ISBN: 978-0-9869382-4-5
The Girl from the Moon
Luna is given a mission by her mother, The Moon, to take three sad children on a night-time journey through the forest that also walks them through time. Their path and the environment changes as the children move through four major stages of history that affect life today.ISBN: 978-0-9869382-0-7
Lara Wood
An angry wizard places a curse on a young traveler. In an effort to convince the wizard that the young man is innocent of the crimes he has been accused of, Lara, a farm girl, sets out into the woods.ISBN: 978-0-9869382-2-1
Tiger Dream
A tiger, upset that he was called a "pompous old bore," escapes from the zoo and terrorizes children by eating them. Thinking that he might be the tiger's fourth victim, a young boy who had been left alone in an apartment for the very first time, invents clever trickster stories to dissuade the tiger from making him his next meal.From the author:
As this story evolves, it is quickly revealing itself as a potential graphic novel. It has been inspired by my interest in African American trickster stories, especially Br'er Rabbit, as well as my interest in the Harlem Renaissance. I was also influenced by the etching I produced for an international competition to illustrate Yann Martel's book, "The Life of Pi." My story is substantially different from Martel's telling, or the tale that inspired Martel to write his novel - "Max and the Cats" by Moacyr Scliar which is about a Jaguar in a boat with a boy.ISBN: 978-0-9869382-1-4 - This work is being made possible by the support of the Ontario Arts Council's Chalmers Arts Fellowship.
