About the Author
ROBERT QUACKENBUSH is the author and illustrator of more than two hundred books for young readers. He has been awarded honors and prizes for his work, including a gold medal from the Holland Society of New York for distinction in art and literature. His art is in the permanent collections of the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Smithsonian Institution. It is also on display in the gallery/studio he owns and runs in New York City. The place is fairly quacking with activity, for, in addition to creating books and paintings there, Mr. Quackenbush teaches writing and illustrating to children and adults.
Mr. Quackenbush, who is a native of Arizona, now lives in New York City with his wife, Margery. Their son, Piet (rhymes with “neat”), was the inspiration for many of the author’s books when he was growing up. Now Aidan and Emma, the children of Piet and his wife, Teresa, are the inspirations.
ALADDIN QUIX
SIMON & SCHUSTER, NEW YORK
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Welcome to ALADDIN QUIX!
If you are looking for fast, fun-to-read stories with colorful characters, lots of kid-friendly humor, easy-to-follow action, entertaining story lines, and lively illustrations, then ALADDIN QUIX is for you!
But wait, there’s more!
If you’re also looking for stories with tables of contents; word lists; about-the-book questions; 64, 80, or 96 pages; short chapters; short paragraphs; and large fonts, then ALADDIN QUIX is definitely for you!
ALADDIN QUIX: The next step between ready to reads and longer, more challenging chapter books, for readers five to eight years old.
This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
ALADDIN QUIX
Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division
1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10020
www.SimonandSchuster.com
This Aladdin QUIX paperback edition September 2018
Copyright © 1983 by Robert Quackenbush
Also available in an Aladdin QUIX hardcover edition.
All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.
ALADDIN and the related marks and colophon are trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
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Series and cover designed by Nina Simoneaux
Interior designed by Tiara Iandiorio
The illustrations for this book were rendered in pen and ink and wash.
The Library of Congress has cataloged a previous edition as follows:
Quackenbush, Robert M. / Stairway to doom
Summary: As one of thirteen guests invited to historic Duckinbill Castle to hear the will of her late great-aunt, Miss Mallard finds the other guests have disappeared overnight and it is up to her to solve the mystery.
[1. Ducks—Fiction. 2. Mystery and detective stories.] I. Title.
PZ7.Q16St 1983 [Fic] 82-21484
ISBN 978-1-5344-1316-0 (hc)
ISBN 978-1-5344-1315-3 (pbk)
ISBN 978-1-5344-1317-7 (eBook)
Stairway to Doom Page 2