Ken Spillman

Young Australian teacher Bruce Dowding arrived in Paris in 1938, planning only to improve his understanding of French language and culture. Secret Agent, Unsung Hero draws on decades of research to reveal, for the first time, his coming of age as a leader in escape and evasion during World War II. Dowding helped exfiltrate hundreds of Allied servicemen from occupied France and paid the ultimate price. He was beheaded by the Nazis just after his 29th birthday in 1943.

Young Australian teacher Bruce Dowding arrived in Paris in 1938, planning only to improve his understanding of French language and culture. Secret Agent, Unsung Hero draws on decades of research to reveal, for the first time, his coming of age as a leader in escape and evasion during World War II. Dowding helped exfiltrate hundreds of Allied servicemen from occupied France and paid the ultimate price. He was beheaded by the Nazis just after his 29th birthday in 1943.

Jake's friends have all gone cooking crazy, but Jake can't understand the fuss until he starts cooking too. Once Jake unleashes his inner chef, there's nothing he won't try, and a school competition provides the perfect forum to show off his new-found skills--with hilarious results.

A school concert sounds like fun to Jake, who imagines himself scampering across the stage in a monkey suit, clashing swords with Jonah, and even playing a prince--as long as princesses are kept far away. When he gets the lead role in the school concert, he also gets a terrible case of stage fright. To make matters worse, Jake is going to have to kiss a girl in front of the whole school. Is his teacher really trying to ruin his life? Featuring a loving single-parent family and humorous illustrations, this story is sure to enthrall beginning readers.

Featuring black and white line drawings of all Jake's antics, this hilarious book follows the young hero out of the house and onto the soccer pitch. Jake just knows he's going to be awesome at soccer; he'll be super fast and much too tricky for the other players. But, Jake quickly discovers, soccer isn't as easy as it looks. When Jake isn't tripping, he's slipping. His dribbling looks like bad passing and his passing looks like bad dribbling. Will he ever get his great game?

Jake has always dreamed of flying, and he knows that he can; he just needs to figure out how. So he begins his quest to get off the ground with a sound plan, the right stuff, and his friend Jonah. Featuring a single-parent family, this humorous adventure reinforces the father-son bond as it encourages children to make dreams a reality.