Duncan Ball
Encyclopedia
Duncan Ball is an American-born Australia
n author who has written the children's series Selby
(about a talking dog named Selby who tries to keep his secret away from his owners) and Emily Eyefinger
(about a girl who has an eye on her finger). He also writes under the name of John St Claire.
, and was one of three children. When he was 4, his family moved to Alaska
, where he went to primary school. In his teens, Duncan moved to Madrid
, Spain
where he learned to speak Spanish. He finished high school in the United States.
, Australia
in 1974 and worked as an industrial chemist
. He wrote a novel for adults and later changed jobs to editor of the School Magazine at the Department of Education of New South Wales. He continued to work there for a few years, then resigned to become a full-time author, a profession which he continues today.
Duncan has written about seventy-five books, all but one of them are children's books. His second children's' book was Selby's Secret
, which was published March 6, 1985. It is about a dog named Selby, who learned to talk while watching TV and struggles to keep his ability as a secret (he must do this so his owners, the Trifles, do not put him to work around the house). Since this first book, 14 more original Selby books have been published, as well as Selby's Selection book, featuring Selby's best antics, and 2 joke books.
In 1997, Duncan wrote the first Emily Eyefinger book, which is about a girl named Emily who has an eye on the end of her finger. Ten books have been published in this series. Duncan has also written the Piggott books, which is about Bert Piggott and his useless family, the "The Case of the..." books and "The Ghost and the..." books. Duncan also wrote single non-series books, such as "Jeremy's Tail" and "My Dog's a Scaredy Cat".
His latest book is a book of funny poems called "My Sister Has a Big Black Beard".
The Ghost and... books:
The Case of... books:
Collected volumes:
Collected volumes:
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n author who has written the children's series Selby
Selby (Book Series)
Selby is a self titled novel series written by Australian author Duncan Ball and illustrated by Allan Stomann. The books chronicle the adventures of the eponymous talking dog Selby, together with his owners Dr and Mrs Trifle. Since the release of the first book, Selby's Secret, there have been...
(about a talking dog named Selby who tries to keep his secret away from his owners) and Emily Eyefinger
Emily Eyefinger
Emily Eyefinger is a series of children's books written by Duncan Ball and illustrated by Craig Smith. They are about a girl who was born with an eye on the end of her finger....
(about a girl who has an eye on her finger). He also writes under the name of John St Claire.
Early life and education
Duncan was born in 1941 in Boston, Massachusetts, United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, and was one of three children. When he was 4, his family moved to Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
, where he went to primary school. In his teens, Duncan moved to Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
where he learned to speak Spanish. He finished high school in the United States.
Career
Ball moved to SydneySydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
in 1974 and worked as an industrial chemist
Chemist
A chemist is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties such as density and acidity. Chemists carefully describe the properties they study in terms of quantities, with detail on the level of molecules and their component atoms...
. He wrote a novel for adults and later changed jobs to editor of the School Magazine at the Department of Education of New South Wales. He continued to work there for a few years, then resigned to become a full-time author, a profession which he continues today.
Duncan has written about seventy-five books, all but one of them are children's books. His second children's' book was Selby's Secret
Selby's Secret
Selby’s Secret is the first children's novel in the Selby series by Australian writer Duncan Ball, and was first published in 1985. It was reissued in 2004.-Awards and nominations:...
, which was published March 6, 1985. It is about a dog named Selby, who learned to talk while watching TV and struggles to keep his ability as a secret (he must do this so his owners, the Trifles, do not put him to work around the house). Since this first book, 14 more original Selby books have been published, as well as Selby's Selection book, featuring Selby's best antics, and 2 joke books.
In 1997, Duncan wrote the first Emily Eyefinger book, which is about a girl named Emily who has an eye on the end of her finger. Ten books have been published in this series. Duncan has also written the Piggott books, which is about Bert Piggott and his useless family, the "The Case of the..." books and "The Ghost and the..." books. Duncan also wrote single non-series books, such as "Jeremy's Tail" and "My Dog's a Scaredy Cat".
His latest book is a book of funny poems called "My Sister Has a Big Black Beard".
Marriage and children
Ball's wife Jill is a librarian. Duncan has two adult sons, Eliot and Ian, by his first wife, Vivian, and three grandsons.Published works
- The Great Australian Snake Exchange (Hutchinson, 1978)
- Going Bush (Jacaranda Press, 1985)
- All About Sports (Jacaranda Press, 1986)
- Amazing Australian Shipwrecks (Angus & Robertson, 1987)
- My Dog's a Scaredy-cat (Walter McVitty Books, 1987)
- The Spank Story (Jacaranda Press, 1988)
- Jeremy's Tail (Ashton Scholastic, 1990)
- The Spy Code Handbook (Angus & Robertson, 1990)
- Grandma's Christmas Story (Australia Post, 1991)
- Piggott Place (Angus & Robertson, 1992)
- Grandfather's Wheelything (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 1994)
- Ty Daring and the Billion Dollar Nose (Scholastic, 1995)
- First I Bought a House (Walter McVitty Books, 1995)
- Quentin's Lunch (ABC Books, 1999)
- Piggotts in Peril (HarperCollins, 2002)
- My Sister has a Big Black Beard (HarperCollins Australia, 2009)
The Ghost and... books:
- The Ghost and the Goggle Box (Angus & Robertson, 1984)
- The Ghost and the Shutterbug (Angus & Robertson, 1989)
- The Ghost and the Gory Story (Angus & Robertson, 1990)
The Case of... books:
- The Case of the Graveyard Ghost (Angus & Robertson, 1994)
- The Case of the Walkabout Clock (Angus & Robertson, 1994)
- The Case of the Midnight Zappers (Angus & Robertson, 1994)
- The Case of the Getaway Gold (Angus & Robertson, 1994)
- The Case of the Runaway Bullet (Angus & Robertson, 1995)
Selby series
- Selby's Secret (Angus & Robertson, 1985)
- Selby Speaks (Angus & Robertson, 1988)
- Selby Screams (Angus & Robertson, 1989)
- Selby Supersnoop (Angus & Robertson, 1995)
- Selby Spacedog (Angus & Robertson, 1996)
- Selby Snowbound (Angus & Robertson, 1998)
- Selby Surfs (Angus & Robertson, 1999)
- Selby's Joke Book (Angus & Roberson, 2000)
- Selby Snaps! (Angus & Robertson, 2000)
- Selby Splits (Angus & Robertson, 2001)
- Selby's Stardom (HarperCollins, 2002)
- Selby's Side-Splitting Joke Book (HarperCollins, 2002)
- Selby Sorcerer (HarperCollins, 2003)
- Selby the Wonder Dog (HarperCollins, 2004)
- Selby Scrambled (Angus & Robertson, 2004)
- Selby's Shemozzle (HarperCollins, 2005)
- Selby Shattered (HarperCollins Australia, 2006)
- Selby Santa (HarperCollins, 2007)
- The Joke's on Selby (HarperCollins Australia, 2008)
Collected volumes:
- Selby's Selection (HarperCollins, 2001)
Emily Eyefinger
- Emily Eyefinger (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 1992)
- Emily Eyefinger, Secret Agent (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 1993)
- Emily Eyefinger and the Lost Treasure (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 1994)
- Emily Eyefinger and the Black Volcano (Angus & Robertson, 2000)
- Emily Eyefinger's Alien Adventure (Angus & Robertson, 2001)
- Emily Eyefinger and the Devil Bones (HarperCollins, 2002)
- Emily Eyefinger and the Balloon Bandits (Angus & Robertson, 2003)
- Emily Eyefinger and the Ghost Ship (Angus & Robertson, 2004)
- Emily Eyefinger and the Puzzle in the Jungle (Angus & Robertson, 2005)
- Emily Eyefinger and the City in the Sky (HarperCollins, 2006)
Collected volumes:
- An Eyeful of Emily (books 1-4, 2007)
- Eyespy Emily Eyefinger (books 5-8, 2008)
Awards
- 1987: West Australian Young Readers Book Award (WAYBRA), Primary Section, Selby's Secret
- 1989: WAYBRA, Primary Section, The Ghost and the Gory Story
- 1990: WAYBRA, Primary Section, Selby Speaks
- 1991: WAYBRA, Primary Section, Selby Screams
- 1997: Kids' Own Australian Literature Award (KOALA), Junior Book category, Selby Spacedog
- 1997: WAYBRA, Young Readers' Section, Selby Supersnoop
- 1997: WAYBRA, Hoffman Award, Selby Supersnoop
- 1998: KOALA, Junior Book category, Selby Speaks
- 2000: KOALA, Junior Book category, Selby Snowbound
- 2001: KOALA Hall of Fame, Selby's Secret
- 2001: WAYBRA, Hoffman Award, Selby Surfs
- 2003: WAYBRA, Young Readers' Section, Selby's Stardom
- 2004: KANGA, Year 3-5 category, Selby Snaps
- 2005: Canberra's Own Outstanding List AwardCOOL Award WinnersThe COOL awards is an annual children's choice award voted on by students in Canberra, the Australian Capital Territory, Australia. Children are encouraged to read and vote for their favourite books...
, Fiction for Young Readers, Selby's Stardom - 2006: WAYBRA, Primary Section, Selby's Schemozzle