JEAN MARZOLLO BIOGRAPHY

Jean Marzollo has written over 100 books, including the award-winning
I SPY series for children, written completely in rhythm and rhyme. She says, "Rhythm and rhyme are like music without the tune; they lure and excite the ear. Children love rhythm and rhyme, and so do I. Do you know that I SPY actually has the same rhythm as Old Mother Hubbard Went to the Cupboard - and also rap?"

Jean Marzollo was born and raised in Manchester, CT. She loved reading books and sewing her own clothes as she grew up. She is a graduate of Manchester High School (1960), the University of Connecticut (1964), and the Harvard Graduate School of Education (1965).

She was a high school English teacher in Arlington, MA (1965-66) and the assistant director of Harvard's Project Upward Bound (1967). In New York City, she worked on early childhood research projects for General Learning Corp. (1967-69) and was the Director of Publications for the National Commission on Resources for Youth (1970-71). For 20 years from 1972-1992, she was editor of Scholastic's Let's Find Out Magazine, working closely with the talented art director Carol Devine Carson. She has written books, such as The New Kindergarten, for teachers and parents, as well as articles for Parents Magazine, Redbook, and other parenting magazines.

Jean Marzollo is best known for her award-winning, best-selling I SPY series with the fantastic photographic illustrator Walter Wick. Among her other favorite children's books are: Pierre the Penguin, The Little Plant Doctor, Help Me Learn Addition, Help Me Learn Numbers 0-20, Soccer Sam, Mama Mama/Papa Papa; Close Your Eyes; Happy Birthday, Martin Luther King; and the Shanna Show books. After more than 20 years of writing children's books, she began to illustrate them, too. She has retold and illustrated five Bible stories and three Greek myths, as well as writing and illustrating two counting books for preschoolers: Ten Little Eggs and Ten Little Christmas Presents.

Jean Marzollo is also the author/illustrator of online interactive books for children, Monsters for Sale and Castle Crash featuring Teddy Bear and Greenie the Troll. Her website (www.jeanmarzollo.com) has many free stories, songs, and games for children to play on computers, SMART boards, and various handheld devices. She says,
"I love all aspects of creating books and ebooks for kids: writing, editing, working with illustrators or illustrating myself. I am always interested in testing my work with children ages 4-8 in classrooms to see if they 'get it.' If they don't, I fix it. Children are great editors. They teach me what works best for them and what doesn't."

Jean Marzollo is married to Claudio Marzollo, a retired sculptor who has co-authored the ebooks, as well as some of her children's science fiction and fantasy books. Their two grown sons, Dan Marzollo and Dave Marzollo, ghostwrite many of the I SPY books. They have also co-authored some of her sports books for kids. She resides in Upstate New York.

Official website: JeanMarzollo.com

Melia, Mimi, Dan, Jean, Gabriel, Dave, Claudio                     

JEAN MARZOLLO SHORT BIO

JEAN MARZOLLO: WHY I LOVE TO WRITE IN RHYTHM AND RHYME