- Jon Scieszka
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Jon Scieszka at the 2009 Texas Book Festival.
Jon Scieszka (SHEH-ska: which means "path'" in Polish) was born September 8, 1954 in Flint, Michigan is an American author of children's literature, best known for his collaborations with illustrator Lane Smith. He is also a nationally recognized reading advocate, and in early 2008 was named the National Ambassador for Young People's Literature by the Librarian of Congress.[1][2] His Time Warp Trio series, which teaches kids history, has been adapted into a television show.
Contents
Personal life
Scieszka is the second oldest of six sons born to Shirly Scieszka, a Registered Nurse, and Louis Scieszka, an elementary school principal. He attended Culver Military Academy in Indiana, graduating in three years, and then began to study both English and science at Albion College, as he considered studying medicine. He eventually received a B.A. in writing in 1976; he turned down an acceptance to Johns Hopkins Medical School, opting instead to enroll in Columbia University's writing program, where he received a Master of Fine Arts in 1980.
After graduating, Scieszka worked in a variety of capacities: teaching at an elementary school (mostly second grade), writing for magazines, painting apartments, and working as a carpenter and lifeguard.
Scieszka currently lives in Park Slope, Brooklyn with his wife Jerilyn, son Jake, and daughter Casey.
Professional life
According to Scieszka, he writes books because he "love[s] to make kids laugh." Most of his best-known works were written in collaborations with illustrator Lane Smith, who does the artwork for Scieszka's words. Among their collaborations are The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales, The True Story of the Three Little Pigs and Math Curse. He is also the principal author of the Time Warp Trio series, for which Smith illustrated a number of installments. The series has been made into a television show.[3] The design of many of Scieszka and Smith's collaborative works is attributed to Molly Leach, Smith's wife, including The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales.[4]
Scieszka has also edited the essay compilation Guys Write for Guys Read, which featured over eighty essays from noted authors who shared stories from their own childhoods. The compilation stems from his personal nonprofit literacy program for boys and men, Guys Read, which he created due to his reaction to United States government statistics regarding literacy amongst boys, as well as society's attitudes toward masculinity.[5]
Scieszka's other books include The Book That Jack Wrote, illustrated by Daniel Adel, and The Frog Prince, Continued.
On writing
In his autobiography, Knucklehead: Tall Tales and Almost True Stories of Growing Up Scieszka, Scieszka writes that his inspiration for much of his work comes from the "strange things" that happened to him while growing up with his brothers.[6]
In terms of the writing process, Scieszka creates outlines for the books of his Time Warp Trio series for structural reasons. When writing other books, however, Scieszka says, "Anything goes. Middle first, sometimes end, sometimes title, sometimes punchline."[7]
References in Media
- In the book 15 Minutes by Steve Young, the school Casey goes to is Jon Scieszka Middle School. The school they compete against is Pilkey Middle School, named after Dav Pilkey, another author.
Awards and recognition
- 1994 - Rhode Island Children's Book Award for The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales
- 1995 - Blue Ribbon Book from the Bulletin Center for Children's Books for Math Curse
- 1995 - Publishers Weekly Best Children's Book for Math Curse
- 1996 - American Library Association Notable Book citation for Math Curse
- 1997 - Golden Archer Award for The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales
- 1997 - Maine's Student Book Award for Math Curse
- 1997 - Texas Bluebonnet Award for Math Curse
- 1997 - New Hampshire's The Great Stone Face Book Award for Math Curse
Works
Scieszka has written and edited a number of books for various publishers.
Selected bibliography
- The Frog Prince, Continued (illustrated by Steve Johnson) - Viking Press - 1991
- The Book That Jack Wrote (illustrated by Daniel Adel) - Viking Press - 1997
Collaborations with Lane Smith
- The True Story of the Three Little Pigs - Viking Press - 1989
- The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales - Viking Press - 1992
- Seen Art?- Viking Press- 1995
- Math Curse - Viking Press - 1995
- Squids Will Be Squids - Viking Press - 1998
- Baloney, (Henry P.) - Viking Press - 2001
- Science Verse - Viking Press - 2004
- Cowboy and Octopus - Viking Press - 2007
The Time Warp Trio
- For the article about the Time Warp Trio, see The Time Warp Trio
Jon Scieszka has written a number of books featuring The Time Warp Trio, a group of children who go back in time to various moments in history. The early books were illustrated by Lane Smith, the later by Adam McCauley. The dates in some cases reflect reissues, with noted books in the series including:
- Knights of the Kitchen Table - (Viking) Penguin Books - 1991
- Summer Reading Is Killing Me! - Penguin Books - 2000
- It's All Greek to Me - Penguin Books - 2001
- Sam Samurai - Penguin Books - 2002
- The Not-so-Jolly Roger- The Time Warp Trio -
- Me Oh Maya
Trucktown
The Trucktown series is a product of Scieszka's Guys Read literacy program, created primarily to appeal to a male audience.
- Smash! Crash! - Simon & Schuster Children's Pubmmlishing - 2008
- Melvin Might? - Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing - 2008
As editor
- Guys Write for Guys Read - Viking - 2005
Connection to Bosch
Sciezka was once widely considered to be the "ever-anonymous" Pseudonymous Bosch because of their similarity in appearance and in writing. Bosch has recently turned out to be Raphael Simon.
One fact that separated them is that Scieszka is bald, but Bosch had lots of hair in his photos.
References
- ^ "US Children's Literature Gets National Ambassador" VOA News
- ^ "National Ambassador for Young People's Literature" Children's Book Council
- ^ Time Warp Series
- ^ "Jon Scieszka". answers.com. Accessed 18 November 2008.
- ^ National Public Radio: All Things Considered: 'Guys Read:' Encouraging Boys to Love Books. 2005. URL accessed 18 March 2007.
- ^ Scieszka, Jon. Knucklehead. New York: Viking, 2008. 12.
- ^ "Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast" interview. Posted November 6, 2007.
External links
- An interview with Jon Scieszka at Bookslut.com
- Stripped Books: Jon & Lane Go to Barnes & Noble
- Guys Read, Jon's literacy program for guys of all ages.
- Public School Insights' Interview with Jon Scieszka Posted March 6, 2008
- Jon Scieszka's website
- Photos of Scieszka and his family
Categories:- American children's writers
- American people of Polish descent
- Writers from Michigan
- Children's literature
- Reading skill advocates
- American schoolteachers
- Albion College alumni
- 1954 births
- Living people
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