Brimming with whimsical illustrations of imaginary animals, this delightful tale of an independent young woman is sure to encourage your own little explorers to dream of their own big adventures.

Intrepid adventurer Amelia finally gets a chance to explore the legendary island of Toucania, following in her grandfather’s footsteps. There she will get to observe the strange creatures that he used to tell her about as she drifted to sleep. Belicorns, chimpanthers and firebats have filled her dreams for years and now she has a chance to see them for herself. But Amelia must get to the island quickly! Otherwise Toucania will soon vanish back into the dense fog that keeps it hidden for decades at a time.

Originaire du Venezuela, Marianne Ferrer a immigré au Canada en 1998. Après avoir étudié l’illustration et le design au cégep Dawson à Montréal, elle a poursuivi ses études en design graphique à l’Université du Québec à Montréal, où elle habite toujours. Marianne a illustré de nombreux ouvrages, notamment Toucania (Monsieur Ed), Mel and Mo's Marvelous Balancing Act (Annick Press) et The Invisible Garden (Orca). Son style est empreint de charme, de délicatesse et de profondeur.

Marianne Ferrer's profile page

Valérie Picard is the artistic director at the Quebec publishing house Monsieur Ed. After obtaining a diploma in visual arts and a degree in anthropology, she fell in love with children's literature. She draws, reads, buys way too many books (ignoring the fact that she has no more space for them) and entertains herself with online Harry Potter questionnaires in order to discover in which house the Sorting Hat would place her. Valerie lives in Montreal, Quebec.

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Charles Simard is a Québécois editor and translator from Montréal, also known as Tiohtià:ke and Mooniyaang. He works as poetry, fiction, and non-fiction editor for Talonbooks in Vancouver on Coast Salish Territory. His published work includes the essay Littérature, analyse et forme: Herbert, Tolkien, Borges, Eco (EUE, 2010) and a number of translations for Orca Book Publishers, including Elise Gravel’s The Wrench and Myriam Daguzan Bernier’s dictionary of sexuality, Naked. As a lexicographer, he has collaborated on the making of the popular linguistic suite Antidote in its bilingual editions. He holds a Ph.D. and M.A. in comparative literature from Université de Montréal and was a postdoctoral fellow at the City University of New York’s Graduate
Center. His doctoral and postdoctoral publications focused on the poetics of avant-garde composer and writer John Cage. He lives in Montréal, Québec.

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• Commended, BC Books for BC Schools

“Whimsical.”

Kirkus Reviews

“Fun and magical...A perfect bedtime story for all little adventurers.”

CM: Canadian Review of Materials