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In college, Jon Scieszka was on course to become a doctor, but spent his spare time attempting to write the Great American Novel. He decided to shelve his medical ambitions and take a masters degree in Fiction Writing at Columbia University. Afterwards, he became a teacher in New York. Fans of Scieszka will not be surprised that he was a somewhat unorthodox teacher, who introduced his eight-year-old students to Kafka's Metamorphosis ( They loved it. You'd tell them about this guy who turns into a cockroach, and they'd go, 'No way, man, no way.' ) Scieszka's teaching experience prompted him to try writing for children, viewing his new readers as the same smart people I had been trying to reach... just a little shorter. In 1988, Jon took a year off from teaching and swapped material with the illustrator Lane Smith. The result of this collaboration was The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs!. The book was initially rejected by publishers on the grounds that it was too weird/sophisticated. But it was not long before the book made it into print. A decade after its first publication, the book has sold over 4 million copies, been translated into ten languages and been widely acclaimed as a classic picture book for all ages. The next Scieszka/Smith collaboration The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales goes even further to break all th
In 1995, Mrs. Fibonacci laid a Math Curse; this year, it's Mr. Newton who says, . . . if you listen closely enough, you can hear the poetry of science in everything. What follows is a madcap collection of science poetry that lampoons familiar songs ( Glory, glory, evolution ) and poems ( Once in first grade I was napping ). The whole lacks the zany unity of its predecessor, opting for an impressionistic tour of scientific terms and principles; the illustrations are less integrated into the text as well, if individually often quite inspired (a set of antiqued nursery rhyme panels are just perfect). Some of the poems rise to the level of near genius ( 'Twas fructose, and the vitamins / Did zinc and dye [red #8] ), while others settle for the satisfyingly gross ( Mary had a little worm. / She thought it was a chigger ). If this offering falls short of the standard set by Math Curse, it will nevertheless find an eager audience, who will hope that the results of Mr. Picasso's curse will soon be forthcoming. (Poetry. 8-12) (Kirkus Reviews)
