September 8, 1954-
Author Extraordinaire
*Jon was BORN September 8, 1954 in Flint, Michigan.
Oh My! That was a long time ago!
* Jon's last name is Polish and you pronounce it like this: Shess-ka. It rhymes with FRESCA. Wow! That isn't so hard after all!
*His Dad was a school principal and his mom was a nurse. She once took Jon and the rest of his CUB SCOUT buddies on a field trip to the prenatal ward! WEIRD!
*Mr. Scieszka has FIVE brothers! You think just having one sibling is bad, try FIVE!
*Jon attended MILITARY School. Do they have class clowns there?
*Jon's favorite things to read are FAIRY TALES, myths, legends, COMIC BOOKS, graphic novels, history, poems, novels, science books, PICTURE BOOKS, short stories, newspapers, funny bits, codes, HIEROGLYPHICS, encyclopedias, dictionaries, subway ads, SIDES OF CEREAL BOXES, matchbook covers, MATRESS TAGS, and any little scraps of paper with writing on them. That sounds like just about everything, huh?
*Before Jon became an author, he was a LIFEGUARD, a magazine writer, a painter in New York City, and a TEACHER! He taught math, computers, science, and history to kids in 1st through 8th grade. Can you imagine what it would be like if Mr. Scieszka was your teacher?
*One of the first books he ever read was GREEN EGGS AND HAM by Dr. Seuss!
He does like green eggs and ham, Sam I Am! Yeah!
*Jon is married and he has TWO kids. I bet he embarrasses his kids all the time! *His family has a cat named POTVIN (named after the Toronto Maple Leafs' goalie, Felix 'The Cat' Potvin) - SWEET!
*Jon writes his books for HARDCORE silly kids. THAT'S ME! THAT'S ME!
* His motto in writing is: "Never underestimate the intelligence of your audience." He says kids can be SILLY and SMART! You got that right!