Born on September 8th in Flint Michigan, Jon Scieszka is a well-known for his off-the-wall books and short stories. He is one of six brothers, which probably explains a lot. He went to a military academy in Indiana, studied pre-med at Albion College, and graduated from Columbia University with a master of fine arts in fiction. He and illustrator Lane Smith shot to the top of the charts with The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales, Math Curse, and the books in The Time Warp Trio series. Before reading Scieszka's books, it is important to bone up on your laughing skills. Depending on your familiarity with laughter, it might be a quick giggle or a soft heh-heh-heh or maybe a loud chortle. It's up to you. He is married to Jeri Hansen, they have two children, and they all live in Brooklyn, New York.

—Steve Mudd