Jon Scieszka

By Jen Graham

[Biography] [Bibliography] [Lesson Plans] [Other Links]

Biography

Visit Jon Sciszka and Lane Smith at their official website, chucklebait.com. You can send him e-mail at stinkcurse@aol.com. The Educational Paperback Association names him as one of the top 100 paperback authors. See their site for Jon Scieszka biographical information. He was born in Flint, Michigan on September 8, 1954. He has five brothers. After he graduated from Culver Military Academy, he studied to be a doctor at Albion College. He changed career directions and attended Columbia University where he received a Master of Fine Arts degree in 1980. Like his father who was also a teacher, Jon Sciszka has been a teacher. At different times he has worked with young people from first through eighth grades. He and his wife Jerilyn, an art director, have two children.

He decided to take off a year from teaching in order to work with Lane Smith, an illustrator, to develop ideas for children's books. Many of his books are "fractured fairy tales" where the story is told from a different point of view. The results are invariably funny. He has said, "My working motto and guiding principle in writing is 'Never underestimate the intelligence of your audience.'"(Commire, 211). Readers of all ages enjoy his great stories and Lane Smith's delightful illustrations. For more biographical information, visit The Scoop. Favorite Answers to Frequent Questions or the New York Public Library's Chat with Jon Scieszka.

His book, The Stinky Cheese Man received the 1994 Rhode Island Children's Book Award. Scieszka's Math Curse, illustrated by Lane Smith, was an American Library Association Notable Book in 1996; a Blue Ribbon Book from the Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books in 1995; and a Publisher's Weekly Best Children's Book in 1995. The Stinky Cheese Man received Georgia's 1997 Children's Choice Award and Wisconsin's The Golden Archer Award. Math Curse received Maine's Student Book Award, The Texas Bluebonnet Award and New Hampshire's The Great Stone Face Book Award in 1997.

Do you like to write? Reading his books are a fun way to get ideas. Read Thomas Alberict's version of the The True Story of the Three Little Pigs. Thomas is a fourth grader.

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Bibliography

Bibliography

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Lesson Plans

Teachers Helping Teachers. Social Studies

Space down to "Opening History Session: How Do We Look at History?" for Grades 4-12. Uses True Story of the Three Little Pigs on how we interpret history.

A Fairy Tale Point of View

Early elementary language arts and fine arts; By Carla Musser.

The True Story of the Three Little Pigs

Book List, Holtmeier's Fourth Grade Recommended read alouds

The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales Review and teaching activities.

Math Around Us; Math Curse Revisited From KidLink. Activities.

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