Scieszka, Jon

▪ 2009

born Sept. 8, 1954, Flint, Mich.

      Former teacher Jon Scieszka—the author of more than 25 children's books, including irreverent works such as The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales—was chosen in 2008 by the Library of Congress to assume the position of national ambassador for young people's literature, a two-year appointment that entrusted him with the task of raising national awareness of the importance of children's books. Scieszka was chosen for the post on the basis of his extensive efforts to promote reading among young people, but his approach included methods that some educators found problematic—he embraced traditionally “nonliterary” forms such as comic books, graphic novels, and the Internet.

      Scieszka, an avid reader in his youth, said that he found such schoolroom staples as the Dick and Jane series of books to be akin to “bad castor oil medicine.” He sought out his own pleasure reading; one of his favourite books was the whimsical Go, Dog, Go! by P.D. Eastman. Scieszka attended high school at Culver (Ind.) Military Academy. He entered Albion (Mich.) College intending to study medicine, but after graduation (1976) he went on to earn an M.F.A. (1980) in writing from Columbia University, New York City. While attempting to forge a career as a novelist, Scieszka found work teaching at a private elementary school on the Upper East Side of New York City, and his experiences there inspired him to try writing for children.

      As a writer and teacher, Scieszka noticed the differences between boys and girls when it came to reading. He determined that boys were less likely to read, and those who did tended to favour nonfiction, humour, or other forms not typically assigned by their mostly female teachers. Scieszka founded an Internet-based literary movement called Guys Read, which encouraged boys to read and men to serve as reading role models. He based the movement on the belief that the key to producing more adult male readers was to let boys read what they preferred rather than forcing them to read specific selections.

      Scieszka teamed with illustrator Lane Smith in the late 1980s to create The True Story of the Three Little Pigs!, a parody of the classic children's tale, told from the perspective of the wolf, who believes he has been unjustly accused of wrongdoing. Several publishers rejected the work on the grounds that it was too sophisticated for its intended audience, but Viking Press published it in 1989, and the book received citations from the New York Times and the American Library Association. The Stinky Cheese Man (1992), a wacky twist on some familiar fairy tales, was named a Caldecott Honor Book. Scieszka then quit teaching and devoted himself full time to writing. Numerous successful titles followed, including Math Curse (1995), Baloney (Henry P.) (2001), the Time Warp Trio series, which was adapted into an animated program for television, and the Trucktown series.

Anthony G. Craine

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