Barnaby Jones, the hero of this tale, had an exceptional imagination, and he had no doubt that, with the proper design, he could build a craft that would lift him into the sky. Not for a moment did he doubt that a series of electric cords would provide the proper thrust for his vehicle or that a common fan could pull it high into the air, over tall buildings and across vast oceans. Surely such faith and determination will assure that his name will be forever linked with those other pioneers of flight history, Orville and Wilbur Wright, Charles Lindberg and Neil Armstrong.

I, King Rupert Pickle XIV, hereby declare that all the characters and events chronicled in this tale are true and authentic. All the people portrayed by the author lived at the time of the Pickle-Chiffon Pie Olympics held in June of 1348.

The Olympic events reported in the story (dragon wrestling, the giant climb, the moat swim, etc.) actually took place and the winners accurately reported herein. None of the names were changed, nor were locations altered.

I have affixed my royal seal and do hereby attest to the accuracy of this statement. (Well, sort of.)

Rupert XIV

45th Anniversary Edition.

When it came to imagination, Benjamin Dilley was right up there with Einstein, Steve Jobs, and whoever came up with the idea for Disneyland. There wasn't anything Benjamin couldn't imagine, except maybe an honest politician or the idea of kissing a (ugh ) girl. Well, he could have if he'd wanted to I suppose but, gee, a guy has to draw the line somewhere

Just about anything else was subject to his delightfully developed imagination, either in full color, black and white, 3D, with sound or without. As you will learn upon reading the story, this included a hippo dressed as an army general, a goat driving a sports car and a genie in (and out of) a bottle just to name a few.

Remember the days when you could do that? I still do it all the time, but folks seem to look at me a little strangely. They tend to say things like, "A little old for that kinda stuff, aren't you, pops?"

Alvin Fernald is back! Not only back, but he finds himself in the middle of a mystery as exciting and hilarious as The Marvelous Inventions of Alvin Fernald, Alvin's Secret Code and the seven other chaotic adventures of this famous series.

Alvin reaches back to the Civil War, at least figuratively, to bond with a boy who buried a national treasure in order to save it. With the aid of the Pest (Alvin's sister Daphne), and his best friend Shoie, Alvin solves a secret message to reveal the whereabouts of the treasure. Clifford B. Hicks has written another classic which both kids and adults will enjoy!