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Waterloo author Donald Gordon got into writing children‘s books in a most unintentional way. â€" Until now, that is. Through an agreement with Zona communications Co. (a multiâ€"level media, entertainment, communications firm in Cambridge), Gordon‘s Prosperian Papers series, beginning with The Rock Candy Bandits, will be released in audio book form, with Gordon himsell reading the text. The 90â€"minute audio books are cleverly packaged in a clear zippered bag along with a flipâ€"up coloring book (with illustraâ€" tions by Michal Manson), and a bonus crayon. These travel kits, called ZonaKids Audio Adventure Kits, are designed to keep children entertained and parents sane on long road jourâ€" neys as well as at home. Gordon‘s Prosperian Papers are not typical children‘s stories, such as ones that deal with experiences like a first trip to the dentist, moving to a new neighborhood, the birth of a sibling, _ or the death of a family member. Written for children ages Until about 10 or 11 years ago, Gordon, a former University of Waterloo political science professor, wrote strictly for adults, mostly in the form of novels, nonâ€"fiction books, text books and research papers. â€"fi\a;dr\a;\gcd though, on a seemingly innocent enough trip to the cottage. _ ©__ "What happened was kind of fun, actually. We were at a cotâ€" tage on the Rideau lakes," Gordon explains. "There were three families, and the mothers commissioned s me to entertain the children for about 40 "I think minutes before dinner so they could make dinner. And 1 ended up with about nine lot sma kids down on the dock. 1 was a heavy pamntl smoker at that point, so 1 scribbled some notes an a package of cigarettes that became The Rock Candy Bandits. The kids really liked it, but the only trouble was that after about three nights, the grownâ€"ups started coming, 100. And dinner kept getting held up. It was a lot of fun." The Rock Candy Bandits, beautifully illustrated by local artisinstructor Michal Manson, was published in 1984 by McBain Publications Inc. in Kitchener, and was the first in a series of 18 stories entitled the Prosperian Papers (written on the constant urgings of the "children on the dock"). The Rock Candy Bandits, however, was the only one of the 18 tales to be Waterloo avthor Donald Gordon to release a series of children‘s audio books LFESTVLES Deborah Crandall Chronicle Staff rvnnietitrcnammcemense n Gordon not only avoids simplifying the vocabulary he uses ent enough trip _ to write for children, he also avoids plot simplification. His stoâ€" ries are complex, but not too, and take the listener on exciting e were at a cotâ€" _ adventures. here were three _ In The Rock Candy Bandits, there are two countries â€" Prosâ€" s & erity and Asperity, Gordon explains "I think kids are a grospycrily gmv‘:s roZk candies onpa rock candy plantation, and Asperity is home to lOt smarter. than the headquarters of the great vinegar pamnts thmk,” works. The national dish of Prosperity happens to be French fries, so that nation The Rock Candy _ trades rock candies for vinegar. It‘s a trade agreement made in rouble was that _ heaven because the people in Asperity use the rock candies to d coming, too. _ take the puckers out of their faces put there by all the vinegar { fun." fumes they inhale. Alas, a group of bandits, led by a man trated by local _ named Moustapha, hijack the shipments of rock candies and red in 1984 by _ sell them to the outside world via a lady named Maude Monâ€" as the first in a _ eybags. eight to 12, his stories are true adventure tales, rife with mythâ€" ical cities, kingdoms, heroes, villains, and beasts and creatures. wH;:n_lenvuc‘;riully doesn‘t "write down" to children, but instead speaks to them in a "slightly smaller vocabulary." "-“‘l-lâ€"â€"oâ€"w:v-e_lz._l-;r;io avoid even that as much as possible because I think parents are the ones who make things too simâ€" ple," Gordon says. "I think kids are a lot smarter than parents think." _ "It‘s the story about how two members of the Royal Prosperâ€" ian Flying Desert Corps, Sergeant Michael and Sergeant Patriâ€" c_laarles:r;lâ€";;t with Colonel Elmer Oddley V.C., which is Vinegar Cross, to apprehend the bandits. And they have sundry adventures." Gordon is planning to write more children‘s [antasy tales, but, at the same time, he retains his "day jobs". He is an instructor with the Long Ridge Writers Group based in West Redding Connecticut, and he teaches a course on freelance writing offered at the Waterloo Community Arts Centre (The Button Factory). For more information about Gordon‘s fourâ€" session writing course, call the Community Arts Centre at 886â€" 4577. Gordon will be the guest of honor at a "meet and greet" reception, Nov. 28 from 7 to 10 p.m. at Ethel‘s Lounge (114 King St. N., Waterloo). The Rock Candy Bandits Audio Advenâ€" ture Kits will be available for purchase at the reception. _ Otherwise, the kits, which are not available in stores, many be purchased through mail order. Call Zona Communications at 653â€"1016 and an order form will be mailed or faxed to you. Donald Gordon‘s children‘s fantasy The Rock Candy Bandits is the first in a series of "Audio Adventure Kits". 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