Race to Pisa! is about the smallest king in history, Nasty King Nedward. It’s about his jealousy over Jolly Roger, the rather large royal tailor. It’s about a nasty plan to get rid of this tailor and a balloon race involving clueless Scallywags, blistering blunderbuss balls, flimsy parachutes, and Belarius, the very notorious balloon master. It’s about nasty revenge plans gone awry and the real reason why the world-famous Tower of Pisa leans (a little to the left). Join the Scallywags once again as they revise history and remind us that you don’t need to be very beautiful or extremely intelligent to make your mark in the world. You just need courage and the ability to make a parachute out of your trousers.

Trevor Newland is an author and illustrator of stories for young AND old people. He has been a professional musician and songwriter, and he has published fiction for adults. Currently, he teaches literature and creative writing at Langara College in Vancouver. This is his fourth book, and it was inspired by countless classic adventure stories he read as a youth. The young hero of this adventure is Jack, inspired by Trevor’s own son (who also loves to read), and Trevor hopes that Jack (as well as YOU) will find the same inspiration in these classic tales of high adventure. Remember, all you need to fly through the air on a cannon ball, to be sneezed out of a whale, to come face-to-face with a raging hound on the moors, or to visit a mad tea party is to pick up a good book.

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