Toucan Jan Life in the Islands

Don’t miss... the beach, rainforest finds, limin’ in the valley and hanging out in an ecosystem... and that is just book one!

Toucan Jan is a rollicking series of fun rhyming books taking readers on a wave of cool adventures above and below the sea. Life in the Islands is the first in the series and has Toucan Jan meeting up with friends including Mumbles the monkey and Hee Haw the donkey to explore the natural wonders of the islands. Discover gecko lizards, how bananas grow and the eco-nursery in the mangroves. The friends have fun singing silly songs, catching waves and just enjoying their island home.

Prepare to be inspired... the colourful characters brought to life by celebrated illustrator David Thrasher and author Brenda Pander-Stowe were created from their individual experiences of island living, as well as through the lens of their children and other young friends fascinated with all things tropical islands.

New books in the series will see Toucan Jan dive into the underwater world, walk the plank and go limin’ at the carnival. Be sure to catch Toucan Jan’s next adventures.

About the Author: Brenda Pander-Stowe. Writing and telling stories are a craft Pander-Stowe has been developing her entire life. From notepads of childhood imaginings to journalism in the Caribbean, writing vivid tourism pieces and then returning to Canada and publishing three hardcover coffee table books on her home province. Her portfolio includes features on tall ships, sailing regattas, tourism, First Nation art, music and culture as well as human interest. In development is a children's book series "Toucan Jan... Life in the Islands, ... Goes Sailing... Underwater Adventures... Limin' at the Carnival." A youth novel, "Sweet Revenge," is about to be published and an adult fiction novel is in final edits, "Caribbean Ties." The Toucan Jan series was created with another Canadian, the talented illustrator and artist, David Thrasher, who lived on the same island. The four rhyming books cover adventures above and below the sea as well as catchin' a little lime at a Carnival. Pander-Stowe experienced the intense interest from her little friends when she lived in the Caribbean and visited Canada and that is where the basis of the storylines originated. Life in the Islands is the first in the series."Caribbean Ties" is an adult tale weaving through the sunny islands and sometimes turbulent seas of the Caribbean. The novel twists on a loop through Canada, the tropical paradise of the West Indies and across the big pond to France as lives are both connected and destroyed. Fiction writing tops the list of my favourites. Such a great escape to create. "Sweet Revenge" examines the bittersweet practice of revenge from two tween plot masters. Has been found to make one laugh hysterically. "Classic Saskatchewan," "Classic Saskatchewan Second Edition" and "Saskatchewan: A New View" are the hardcover informational resources series produced and published by Pander-Stowe, the first in Canada to introduce these resources into select hotels; retail versions were sent all over the world. Raised in Saskatchewan Canada, she left home for adventure and after a few years in Toronto, she made a big move to a tiny island. Based in the British Virgin Islands for 15 years she travelled the Caribbean chain as a journalist and Caribbean Public Relations rep and was lucky enough to sail on many tall ships and yachts. In 2002, she returned home to Canada and produced the three hardcover books mentioned above and then went on to freelancing, all the while advancing her own books. Currently she is starting to plan a hardcover coffee table book on the Caribbean as well as creating a collection of her work into a website. She is also the co-creator of "Working Wellness."Brenda Pander-Stowe is now landlocked but lakeside in the heart of the prairies with her husband and two children.

David Thrasher is an international artist best known for his work in the animation industry from 1975-2003 where he worked as an Animator, Layout Director and finally a Storyboard Artist.His credits with Disney, Nelvana, Nickelodean, M.G.M., D.I.C., Tony Collingwood among others can be viewed at IMDb.com/David Thrasher/Animation.Mr. Thrasher additionally established Caribbean Landscapes Art Gallery from 2003-2009 where he produced two hundred acrylic canvases of the local scenery, while teaching Art, which he continues to the present.David's pursuits in the Children's book industry began in earnest with the collaboration of writer Brenda Pander-Stowe relating stories from their days on Tortola.Their combined skills produced a series of books illustrating the natural wonders one experiences in the Virgin Islands.