DAVE WHAMOND is the award-winning author of several picture books including the Oddrey series, and a regular contributor to OWL and Chickadee magazines. His awards include the Blue Spruce, Silver Birch and Texas 2X2. He also has a syndicated cartoon strip called “Reality Check,” which appears daily in a number of North American newspapers. He lives in Calgary, Alberta.
A picture book adventure of infinite possibilities! It’s Jack’s sixth birthday and he couldn’t be more…bored?! That’s right, model airplanes, stuffed dinosaurs, not even a talking robot can break him free of his festering funk. What’s a boy to do? Enter a most mysterious gift from the equally mysterious Uncle Doug. Within an ordinary-looking brown box glows the Think-a-ma-Jink, a bizarre contraption that claims to bend the very laws of time and space. With this gadget, no idea is too fantastic to be realized, no world too distant to be visited, no personality too zany to be adopted. With his younger sister, Marie, at his side, Jack discovers a wild new universe of possibilities before him: cotton-candy breathing dragons, space-traveling hot-air balloons, caramel rivers and mountains built from chocolate sundaes. But when he and Marie engage in a boisterous, shape-shifting struggle, the future of the Think-a-ma-Jink hangs in the balance. Is Jack doomed to go back to being bored…or is he on the verge of an even greater discovery?Dave Whamond, Dave Whamond
"Wonderfully expressive faces and busy illustrations will keep readers searching the scenes for more details." - Kirkus Reviews
"The picture book explores the power of the imagination and how much fun it brings to one’s life. It does this in a manner young children will appreciate and understand. The cheerful, colorful illustrations ably back up the imaginative text." - Resource Links
"My Think-a-ma-Jink will strike a chord with kids reconnecting with their imaginations." - Movie Entertainment
"Any parent of young children can relate to the magic of a cardboard box
and the power of an unrestrained imagination." - This West Coast Mommy (blog)
National Cartoonists Society, Reuben Award for Book Illustration, 2010
Ontario Library Association, Blue Spruce Award, 2011