Michael Bedard

Emily

A hilarious picture book about a very unlikely friendship.

Sitting Ducks

The Green Man

A darkly fantastic middle-grade mystery with the ominous atmosphere loved by fans of Jonathan Auxier and Jonathan Stroud Thirteen-year-old Simon's life has been knocked askew ever since his family moved into his deceased grandfather's house. First there's his eccentric neighbor Mr. Hawkins, who is laid up with a broken leg. Simon's mother begins sending him over there with dinner for the elderly man, and soon Mr. Hawkins is depending on Simon to fetch old books and manuscript pages from all over his eerie, mirror-filled house. There's one mirror in particular, an ancient Egyptian piece, that keeps showing Simon visions of a disturbing figure emerging from its depths. No one else sees the figure, though--just like they don't see the huge, gaunt dog lurking in Mr. Hawkins' bushes. As Simon himself becomes increasingly plagued by a mysterious illness, he is powerless to help as his neighbor descends into paranoia about dark forces encircling his house. The terrible part is, Mr. Hawkins is right. Everything is about to get much, much worse. With an eerie atmosphere perfect for fans of Jonathan Auxier and Jonathan Stroud, The Egyptian Mirror is a deliciously unsettling mystery from Michael Bedard, the author of The Green Man, A Darker Magic, and the Governor General's Award-winning Redwork.

The Egyptian Mirror

When a mother and child pay a visit to their reclusive neighbor Emily, who stays in her house writing poems, there is an exchange of special gifts.

Day after day, brand new ducks roll off a giant assembly line operated by alligators at the Colossal Duck Factory. They are loaded into trucks and taken to Ducktown, where they are fattened up in preparation for their final destination—into the stomachs of alligators. Everything proceeds smoothly, until the day one of the alligators decides to take a wayward duck home. Over time, the alligator grows fond of his future dinner. Can a duck and an alligator really be friends in an alligator-eat-duck world? Find out in this charming and humorous friendship story.

Based on the animated series of the cult picture book Sitting Ducks - now on TV After banging his head in a scooter accident, Waddle the duck shocks his friends when he wakes quacking wildly and unable to speak Bill believes the bump on his head has caused Waddle to revert to being a wild duck. Ed and Oly decide to hide their socially unacceptable brother in their bathtub, where he can spend the night happily swimming until they come up with a plan. During the night Waddle manages to escape, until Bill spots him perched high on top of a billboard. But how did the back-to-nature boy get up there? Has he regressed so much that he actually flew? And how can Bill get him down again? Following the phenomenal success of Sitting Ducks, this is another cracking comedy adventure based on Michael Bedard's bestselling book and hit TV series.

Born to be Wild

The Wolf of Gubbio

Regolo Ricci

Long, long ago there was an Emperor of China whose palace was quite the most wonderful in all the world. But when visitors came from afar, it wasn't the palace that impressed them. Instead, they spoke of the song of the nightingale that lived in the woods by the sea. When he heard this, the Emperor had the bird brought to him and he kept it in a golden cage and treasured it more than all he possessed. Then one day a parcel came to the palace - a gift from the Emperor of Japan. It was a mechanical nightingale made of gold and silver and precious jewels. It was much prettier than the real bird, and it could sing the same tune time and again without growing tired - just as long as there was someone to wind it.

The Nightingale

One, two! One, two! The soldier comes marching down the road on his way home from the wars. Little does he know that the old woman who waits by the gnarled tree will change his life forever. Copper, silver and more gold than he could ever have imagined can be his for the taking if only he will bring her the tinder box she so desires. But why does she want the tarnished old thing so badly, when all that wealth could be hers? The soldier ponders if the three gigantic dogs who guard the money are a part of the secret. We have only to look into their wondrous eyes to know that they are. In this unique retelling of Hans Christian Anderson's classic, Michael Bedard sweeps up along with the steady, relentless rhythm of a soldier's footsteps. Adventure, greed, danger and the love of a beautiful princess are the ingredients for a perfect fairy tale. This one has them all and more.

The Tinder Box

Murray Kimber

Offers the legendary story of St. Francis of Assisi, nicknamed Poverello, and how he managed to tame a wolf that was menacing the townspeople of Gubbio.

Laura Fernandez

Rick Jacobson

A glimpse into the childhood of the Brontes and the world they created, Glass town. 9 yrs+

Glass Town

Each day at the Colossal Duck factory, a steady supply of ducks are hatched, destined for the plates of hungry alligators. One duck is taken home by a worker, and they make friends. But in an alligator-eat-duck world, can such a friendship survive?

Three people find their lives in danger when a ghostly magician haunts them with visions of an extraodinary, deadly magic show he originally staged in 1936.

A Darker Magic

Teenaged O – never call her Ophelia – is about to spend the summer with her aunt Emily. Emily is a poet and the owner of an antiquarian book store, The Green Man. A proud, independent woman, Emily’s been made frail by a heart attack. O will be a help to her. Just how crucial that help will be unfolds as O first tackles Emily’s badly neglected home, then the chaotic shop. But soon she discovers that there are mysteries and long-buried dark forces that she cannot sweep away, though they threaten to awaken once more. At once an exploration of poetry, a story of family relationships, and an intriguing mystery, The Green Man is Michael Bedard at his finest.

Michael Bedard

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