SOMETIMES THE GREATEST ADVENTURES BEGIN WITH THE SMALLEST OF HEROES!!!

When his friend mapmaker Archibald Bell mysteriously disappears, Crumpet leaves the safety of St. Giles' and sets off on his very first adventure.

With only a torn map, a strange brass button, and two railway tickets as clues, Crumpet and his best friend Pip follow the trail from Edinburgh to Glasgow.

Across the new Forth Bridge,

Then on to St Andrews.

But someone else is following the clues.

A mysterious man in polished black shoes.

Filled with mystery, humor, friendship, faith, Scottish history, and more than 100 full-color illustrations.

SELECTED ILLUSTRATIONS

Concept artwork and layouts presenting the story arc, pacing, and visual development of the picture book.

(Final illustrations can be further developed in collaboration with a publisher.)

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MAIN CHARACTERS

CHURCH MOUSE - GEOGRAPHER/EXPLORER/ADVENTURER

MAGGIE - THE MAGPIE

PIP - THE SCOTTISH TERRIER

HAMISH - GLASGOW DOCK RAT

MR. ARCHIBALD BELL - MAPMAKER • SURVEYOR

ISOBEL - TAVERN WAITRESS

SUPPORTING CHARACTERS

Professor Ezra Cummings

Professor Ezra Cummings

MacTavish

Mrs. Gilmour

Dr. J. Cameron Lees

Dr. J. Cameron Lees

Old Tom Morris

Conductor Crawford

Conductor Crawford

Rust-Red Fox Ticket Taker

Rust-Red Fox Ticket Taker

Mr. McBride

Argus Aird

Dr. Silas Vane

FUTURE ADVENTURES IN THE CRUMPET TRILOGY

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THE CREATIVE IDEA FOR CRUMPET

Crumpet came to me in the middle of the night. Between restless dreams and tossing, the old expression “quiet as a church mouse” drifted into my tired thoughts In my half sleep, I smiled. What a charming, clever title.

But what would I call my little mouse? Pippin? Surely the name had been used before. Then, out of the blue, I thought: Crumpet.

Soon, I discovered Quiet as a Church Mouse had been published numerous times before. No matter. By then, Crumpet had already begun to take on a life of his own. My ancestry is Scottish, so our wee mouse naturally found his home in Scotland. At first, I imagined him in the 1920s, but soon his setting became Edinburgh–1890.

Other characters followed: Pip and Maggie came first. Then Bell, Hamish, Isobel, Cummings, McBride, Gilmour, MacTavish, Crawford, Argus, Lees and Vane. His story came surprisingly quickly: a missing man, mysterious maps, puzzle pieces, ships and docks, curious clues, a sinister stranger—the quest for a hidden treasure.

Before long, my church mouse named Crumpet had discovered an adventure full of twists and turns waiting for him–and you.

And, hopefully, soon young readers ages 6-10 will journey with Crumpet & the Missing Mapmaker.

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