Duncan Ball

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Duncan Ball
Born 1941 (age 72–73)
Boston, Massachusetts
Occupation Writer
Genres Children's literature
Notable work(s) Selby series
Spouse(s) Jill
Children 2
www.duncanball.com.au

Duncan Ball is an American-born Australian 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.[1]

Biography

Early life and education

Duncan was born in 1941 in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, 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, studied at Northeastern University and, later, at the University of Paris (Sorbonne). He has a degree in Mathematics from Boston University.

Career

Ball moved to Sydney, 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.[2]

Duncan has written about seventy-five books, all but one of them are children's books, as well as plays and television scripts. 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".

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

See also: List of Selby books
  • 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)
  • Selby Sprung (Angus & Robertson, 2010)

Collected volumes:

  • Selby's Selection (HarperCollins, 2001)

Emily Eyefinger

  1. Emily Eyefinger (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 1992)
  2. Emily Eyefinger, Secret Agent (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 1993)
  3. Emily Eyefinger and the Lost Treasure (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 1994)
  4. Emily Eyefinger and the Black Volcano (Angus & Robertson, 2000)
  5. Emily Eyefinger's Alien Adventure (Angus & Robertson, 2001)
  6. Emily Eyefinger and the Devil Bones (HarperCollins, 2002)
  7. Emily Eyefinger and the Balloon Bandits (Angus & Robertson, 2003)
  8. Emily Eyefinger and the Ghost Ship (Angus & Robertson, 2004)
  9. Emily Eyefinger and the Puzzle in the Jungle (Angus & Robertson, 2005)
  10. Emily Eyefinger and the City in the Sky (HarperCollins, 2006)
  11. Emily Eyefinger and the Secret from the Sea (HarperCollins, 2012)

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 Award, Fiction for Young Readers, Selby's Stardom
  • 2006: WAYBRA, Primary Section, Selby's Schemozzle

References

  1. ↑ Author website: Biography 2002
  2. ↑ Sydney Writers Centre: Duncan Ball biography and interview, retrieved 7 February 2010
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