• Age: 3 to 6
• Grade: p to 1

Who would have suspected the power of bubble gum? Atlas is bored. It's raining, so he sits inside, chewing a gumball. He blows a bubble and imagines that it is Australia. Then the stove becomes a Chinese dragon; the fridge is Antarctica, inhabited by penguins; the bathtub melts away into the Seven Seas; and the piano turns into an African elephant. Atlas even visits medieval England and Outer Space!

In this, his first book, Paul Montpellier aims "to interest children in the world outside their own environment, and the pleasures involved in imagination and bubble gum." Atlas is a creative, unusual introduction to geography for all ages. The story is simply told for beginning readers, and it is also a good read-aloud book. Montpellier's beautiful, humourous, full-colour illustrations make Atlas a fascinating visual experience.

Paul Montpellier was born in Vancouver in 1949. He trained at the Calgary Art School and has worked as both an artist/illustrator and a set designer. Since 1977 he has been a tree surgeon for the National Parks Board. Paul wrote and illustrated Atlas and illustrated the bestselling Jason and the Sea Otter and Jason's New Dugout Canoe, both written by Joe Barber Starkey.

Paul Montpellier's profile page