I’ll let the pictures do the talking 
You’re invited: KEEP OUT! launch: Markham Village Library
Date: Wednesday April 28, 2010Posted in: Red Dune Adventures
Introducing the Teachers’ Guide for KEEP OUT!
This junior chapter book is ideal for grades 2-4. The guide is catered for those grade levels with activities, discussions and links to curriculum. A bit about the book:
André and Lucas are twin brothers who live on PEI with their park warden mother and veterinarian father. Their mother is working to protect piping plovers, and the boys join in, helping to put up gates around nests and making sure no one trespasses in the sensitive area. When one nest is destroyed, the boys have to do some handy detective work to find the culprits.
Written in an accessible, engaging style, and illustrated with line drawings by Diane Lucas, Keep Out! is the perfect choice for emergent or reluctant readers who like a good mystery.
Read the first chapter: HERE!
View the book trailer: HERE!
Buy: chapters.indigo.ca │amazon.ca
If you have used the Teachers’ Guide, please drop me a line with your feedback. I’d love to hear how it goes!
Jill Murray’s RHYTHM AND BLUES
Date: Wednesday April 7, 2010Posted in: Author profile,Interviews,Red Dune Adventures
Jill Murray’s young adult book, RHYTHM AND BLUES is hitting store shelves and her main character, Alya has popped by to interview Andre and Lucas from KEEP OUT! This is great since Andre and Lucas are young enough to be Alya’s annoying little next door neighbours, waking her up early in the morning after a late night of dancing and singing, bouncing their basketballs and screaming up and down the street with their bikes.
Fun!
Get your very own signed copy of RHYTHM AND BLUES when Jill is in Toronto this weekend:
And now for the interview…
Alya: I LOVE any kind of music you can dance to, especially hip hop, and pretty much all R&B, especially ballads. How would you describe your favourite music?
Andre: Me and my mom love to blast the truck stereo. Anything loud with a good beat is good enough for me. Oh, and don’t forget the bass.
Lucas: Ugh. How many times do I have to tell you? Hearing loss begins at 100 decibels you know.
Alya: So I was pretty happy being a dancer, and then all of a sudden one day, this producer guy asked me to audition as a singer, BUT I COULDN’T EVEN SING. Yikes! If you could have any talent in the world, what would it be, and why?
Lucas: One day, I’m gonna invent the best aerodynamic shield for my bike. I’ve already increased my speed by 13%!
Andre: Yeah, but remember–you’ll never be as fast as me, little brother.
Lucas: Just because you were born 11 minutes before me, doesn’t make me your little brother. Plus, don’t forget I’m 1/2 an inch taller than you.
Andre: Details, details…
Alya: Sometimes I think my life is not turning out like anyone else wanted it to. It’s hard to figure out, let alone stand up for half the stuff I think I want now. What was something or someone you had to stand up for to your parents or teachers or friends, when you were a teen?
Andre: Well, we’re not teens yet, but we once had to stand up to a group of campers when we found out they were destroying piping plover nests.
Lucas: Yeah, that big guy could have crushed us.
Alya: If you read Break On Through, you already know I am SUCH a huge fan of Bershawn Sera, the best singer in the universe. What celebrity would you most like to meet? How do you picture it happening?
Lucas: Me and Andre would love to meet Lance Oliver. He just won the World Body Boarding Championships.
Andre: His boarding skills are sick.
Alya: How would you deal with it if you had a huge secret– OK, more than one huge secret– and you needed help, but for some reason, you didn’t feel like you could talk about it to your BFF, the person you usually turn to for EVERYTHING?
Lucas: Not like I have any choice, but Andre knows everything that happens to me. We’re always together and even share the same room. It’s great, cause he’s always got my back but I just wish he’d keep his smelly socks on his side of the room.
Andre: Hey!
Alya: Look at what you are wearing RIGHT NOW. (Be honest with yourself, even if you are wearing pajamas, or a t-shirt with a splotch of dried toothpaste.) If you had to go on stage in the next five minutes (Pretend you’re singing on reality tv or something. It’s your big chance.) and couldn’t go get a better outfit, how would you make it work, using only the clothes you are wearing and the contents of your makeup bag (if you have one.)
Andre: Well, for Lucas, I think a pink feather boa would be perfect. And maybe some purple hair gel.
Lucas: SO not funny! Don’t mind him, Alya. Andre would just pick something grubby and gross from that disgusting pile of clothes he keeps at the end of his bed.
Andre: Amazingly, Lucas is right on that one. Thanks for coming by, Alya. Have fun while you’re in Toronto and say hi to our friend, Helene!
KEEP OUT! the Book Trailer & read Chapter 1!
Date: Friday March 19, 2010Posted in: Red Dune Adventures
COMING: April, 2010!
In KEEP OUT! Lucas and Andre try to solve the mystery of who, or what, has destroyed the endangered piping plover’s nest of Prince Edward Island National Park. And Lucas hatches a plan to get Andre to keep his dirty socks on his side of the room!
Read the first chapter: HERE!
Pre-order: chapters.indigo.ca │amazon.ca
Illustrations by Diane Lucas. Visit her online portfolio HERE.
I hope I can do this correctly, but here is my cover for my new early chapter book KEEP OUT! (spring 2010), the first volume in the RED DUNE ADVENTURES SERIES. (the cover! 
)
In KEEP OUT! Lucas and Andre try to solve the mystery of who, or what, has destroyed the endangered piping plover’s nest. And Lucas hatches a plan to get Andre to keep his dirty socks on his side of the room!
It will be out in Canada in April and (hopefully!) everywhere else this fall.
RED DUNE ADVENTURES: The series!
Date: Tuesday March 31, 2009Posted in: Good news!,Red Dune Adventures
I am THRILLED to finally announce my upcoming series with Nimbus Publishing.
RED DUNE ADVENTURES is an illustrated chapter book series for new readers (6-9 year olds). The first volume: KEEP OUT! will be released in the spring of 2010 and the second: WATER HAZARD! will follow in spring 2011.
In KEEP OUT! Lucas and Andre try to solve the mystery of who, or what, has destroyed the endangered piping plover’s nest. And Lucas hatches a plan to get Andre to keep his dirty socks on his side of the room!
In WATER HAZARD! the boys wonder how the best Irish Mossing horse in Prince Edward Island got injured. Was it an accident or sabotage? And will their classmate, Summer, stop reciting poetry long enough for them to figure it out?
I LOVE that this will be a series for new readers and I’m really looking forward to working with the Nimbus team again on this fun, new project!
Yippee!
