Jon Scieszka (/ˈʃɛʃkə/SHESH-kə:[1] born September 8, 1954[2][3]) is an American children's writer, best known for his picture books created with the illustratorLane Smith. He is also a nationally recognized reading advocate, and the founder of Guys Read – a web-based literacy program for boys whose mission is "to help boys become self-motivated, lifelong readers."[4]
After graduating, Scieszka worked in a variety of capacities: teaching at an elementary school (mostly second grade), writing for magazines, and painting apartments.[2][3]
Professional life
While pursuing his MFA at Columbia in New York, Scieszka painted apartments. He went on to teach 1st-8th grade at the Day School (currently the Trevor Day School) for ten years. After that, he started writing and touring full-time, which he still does today.
According to Scieszka, he writes books because he "loves to make kids laugh."[9] Most of his best-known works were written in conjunction with illustrator Lane Smith. Among their collaborations are The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales, The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs! and Math Curse. He is also the author of the Time Warp Trio series, for which Smith illustrated eight of the sixteen books. The series has been made into a television show. The design of many Scieszka and Smith collaborations, including Stinky Cheese Man, is attributed to Molly Leach, Smith's wife.
Scieszka is also the founder of Guys Read, a web-based literacy program for boys whose mission is "to help boys become self-motivated, lifelong readers." He founded the nonprofit in response to his experiences as an elementary school teacher and the United States National Assessment of Educational Progress statistics showing boys consistently scoring worse than girls on federal reading tests every year, at every grade level.[10]
In 2008 Scieszka was named the nation's first National Ambassador for Young People's Literature by the Librarian of Congress. During his two years as Ambassador, it was his job to raise "national awareness of the importance of young people’s literature as it relates to lifelong literacy, education and the development and betterment of the lives of young people."[7] For Scieszka, this meant traveling to schools, libraries, and book-related conferences to speak about engaging kids in reading through choice, an expanded definition of reading, positive role models, and embracing new technologies. He has joked that being an ambassador gets him out of parking tickets.[11]
Books
Scieszka has written and edited many books for various publishers.
The Time Warp Trio books are illustrated middle grade novels about three boys, Sam, Joe, and Fred, who travel through time and space with a magical book. The early books were illustrated by Lane Smith, and later ones by Adam McCauley. They are published by Viking Press.
Knights of the Kitchen Table, illustrated by Lane Smith - 1991
The Not-So-Jolly Roger, illustrated by Lane Smith - 1991
The Good, the Bad, and the Goofy, illustrated by Lane Smith - 1992
Your Mother Was a Neanderthal, illustrated by Lane Smith - 1993
2095, illustrated by Lane Smith - 1995
Tut, Tut, illustrated by Lane Smith - 1996
Summer Reading Is Killing Me!, illustrated by Lane Smith - 1998
It's All Greek to Me, illustrated by Lane Smith - 1999
See You Later, Gladiator, illustrated by Adam McCauley - 2000
Sam Samurai, illustrated by Adam McCauley - 2001
Hey Kid, Want to Buy a Bridge?, illustrated by Adam McCauley - 2002
Viking It and Liking It, illustrated by Adam McCauley - 2002
Me Oh Maya!, illustrated by Adam McCauley - 2003
Da Wild, Da Crazy, Da Vinci, illustrated by Adam McCauley - 2004
Oh Say, I Can't See, illustrated by Adam McCauley - 2005
Marco? Polo!, illustrated by Adam McCauley - 2006
Jon Scieszka - Time Warp Trio Lyrics
Trucktown
Scieszka was inspired to create the Trucktown series because he "really wanted to write something for all of those crazy little guys who didn’t think there was something out there for them to read."[12]
The Trucktown characters and backgrounds were created by the team of David Shannon, Loren Long, and David Gordon. The over fifty-book Trucktown program includes picture books, "Ready-to-Roll" early reader books, board books, and a variety of activity books. They are published by Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing.
A TV series with the same name was produced by Nelvana and it premiered on Treehouse TV in Canada on September 6, 2014, it was also available to stream as part of Nickelodeon's NOGGIN streaming service.
Picture Books:
Smash! Crash! - 2008
Melvin Might? - 2008
Truckery Rhymes - 2009
Ready-to-Roll:
Snow Trucking! - 2008
Pete's Party - 2008
Uh-Oh Max - 2008
Zoom! Boom! Bully - 2009
Melvin's Valentine - 2009
The Spooky Tire - 2009
Kat's Mystery Gift - 2009
Trucksgiving - 2010
Dizzy Izzy - 2010
Trucks Line Up - 2011
Spaceheadz
Spaceheadz is a multi-platform story, told through four books, multiple websites, integrated blogs, social media sites, videos, ads, and user-created content. The story reveals how three aliens from the planet Spaceheadz disguise themselves as 5th graders in Brooklyn in order to sign up 3.14 million and 1 Earthlings to be Spaceheadz and save Earth. The extensive online storytelling is managed by Casey Scieszka and Steven Weinberg. The books are illustrated by DreamWorks animator Shane Prigmore, and published by Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing.
Spaceheadz Book #1!, illustrated by Shane Prigamore with Francesco Sedita - 2010
Spaceheadz Book #2!, illustrated by Shane Prigamore with Casey Scieszka and Steven Weinberg - 2010
Spaceheadz Book #3!, illustrated by Shane Prigamore with Casey Scieszka and Steven Weinberg - 2011
Spaceheadz Book #4!, illustrated by Shane Prigamore with Casey Scieszka and Steven Weinberg - 2013
Frank Einstein
The Frank Einstein books are illustrated middle grade (3-7) novels about a kid-genius scientist and inventor named Frank Einstein.
Frank Einstein and the Antimatter Motor, illustrated by Brian Biggs - Abrams/Amulet, 2014
Frank Einstein and the Electro-Finger, illustrated by Brian Biggs - Abrams, 2015
Frank Einstein and the BrainTurbo, illustrated by Brian Biggs - Abrams, 2015
Frank Einstein and the EvoBlaster Belt, illustrated by Brian Biggs - Abrams, (forthcoming September 2016)
Frank Einstein and the Bio-Action Gizmo, illustrated by Brian Biggs - Abrams, 2017
Frank Einstein and the Space-Time Zipper, illustrated by Brian Biggs - Abrams, 2018
Memoir/novel
Knucklehead: Tall Tales and Mostly True Stories of Growing Up, Scieszka - Viking Press - 2008
Guys Read: Funny Business, "Your Question for Author Here," with Kate DiCamillo - Walden Pond Press - 2010
The Chronicles of Harris Burdick: Fourteen Amazing Authors Tell the Tales, "Under The Rug," illustrated by Chris Van Allsburg - Houghton Mifflin - 2011
Two children's books written by Scieszka and illustrated by Lane Smith were ranked among the 100 best all-time picture books in a 2012 survey published by School Library Journal: The True Story of the Three Little Pigs, number 35, and The Stinky Cheese Man, 91.[13]
Scieszka's books have received many awards and other recognitions, including:
2005: American Library Association, Notable Children's Book Award, Science Verse
2005: Golden Duck Awards for Excellence in Children's Science Fiction Literature, Science Verse
2009: Bank Street Best Books of the Year, Robot Zot
2009: Irma S. Black Award, Honor Book, Robot Zot
2009: The New York Times Book Review, Bestseller, Robot Zot
On writing
In his autobiography, Knucklehead: Tall Tales and Almost True Stories of Growing Up Scieszka, he writes that his inspiration for much of his work comes from the "strange things" that happened to him while growing up with his brothers.[14]
Scieszka creates outlines for the books of his Time Warp Trio series for structural reasons. When writing other books, however, he says, "Anything goes. Middle first, sometimes end, sometimes title, sometimes punchline."[15]
