Books shouldn’t be intimidating for kids, says Duncan Lam. That’s the motivation for the Odette School of Business alum (MBA 2020) and sessional instructor who has just published his fourth book for young readers, illustrated by his 11-year-old niece.

“I wrote the first story two years ago for my son as he was going into junior kindergarten,” Lam recalls. “It had just 50 words in it, so he was able to read it himself.”

He recruited his then nine-year-old niece Taylor Tai to provide accompanying pictures and the team kept coming up with stories.

Their collection has grown to include the titles Mighty Super Zero; Paper Star, Paper Star in a Jar; One Fun Bun; and Zero Becomes a Farmer.

“They rhyme, all the words are simple, and the artwork is at a kid’s level,” Lam says. “I just want kids to pick up a book and not feel intimidated.”

The books are being distributed at local shops but Lam doesn’t see them supplanting his day job as general manager at CAMufacturing Solutions Inc.

“It’s more of a fun project at home at this point, to be honest,” he says.

Find more information on his publishing website, mightysuperzero.ca.

Lam and Tai also produced a short video celebrating the Lunar New Year, which began Sunday. Watch Dragon: A different kind of story for Chinese New Year.