Stephen Cosgrove
Author of Leo the Lop
About the Author
Image credit: By J2J Creative - Own work, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5904231
Series
Works by Stephen Cosgrove
Can You Say Pterodactyl? 7 copies
Serendipity Compatible with CAP'N SMUDGE Stephen Cosgrove 1977 ILLUSTRATED Reader Robin James HC (1977) 6 copies
Memily Paperback May 5, 1987 2 copies
STEPHEN COSGROVE Wheedle on the Needle Serendipity Book 1974 Vtg Compatible with Monster Book 2 copies
Flynn "flea" Flicker: Sticking To The Truth (Cosgrove, Stephen. Bugg Books (Pci Educational Publishing), 6.) (2004) 2 copies
Speedier than a Meteor 2 copies
The Castaway Pines 2 copies
Rhubard 1 copy
Rooty Rooty Snooty 1 copy
Patrick Bent Wing 1 copy
Leo the Lop (tail three) 1 copy
THE GNOME FROM NOME 1 copy
Die Flukse veldmuisie 1 copy
CAPITAIN SMUDGE 1 copy
Gangalí y los Múgridos 1 copy
Fishing in Simplicity 1 copy
De Hamstersaurus 1 copy
Serendipity Series 1 copy
Betterfly 1 copy
Barley Bugg 1 copy
Buzz 1 copy
Stephen Cosgrove Collection of 8 Large Hardback Serendipity Books in Good Condition (Serendipity Books) (1978) 1 copy
Turtle Tom 1 copy
SERENDIPITY Books SET (of 6): "Misty Morgan", "Buttermilk", "Lady Rose", "Rhubarb", "Flutterby" & " Morgan Morning" (1988) 1 copy
Shadow Chaser 1 copy
Serendipity Box Set No. 3 1 copy
Sooty Fool 1 copy
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Birthdate
- 1945-07-26
- Gender
- male
- Education
- Stephen's College for Women, Columbia, Missouri
Borah High School - Occupations
- children's author
toy designer - Organizations
- Serendipity Press
- Awards and honors
- 1990 PNBA Silver Jubilee Honor Award for "Ira Wordworthy", Education World, Storybooks Award,
- Agent
- Lauri Aibel
- Relationships
- Robin, James (professional partnership)
- Short biography
- “Stephen Cosgrove didn’t really take up the writing challenge until after he went searching for a reasonably priced, fun to read, book that had a message of sorts for his 3 year old daughter and only finding expensive hard covered books with not a story in them that he was looking for. That was in 1973, by 1978 he had sold over three million books.
Born and raised in the Northwest of USA, he now lives in San Antonio, Texas, and continues in a number of projects one such -developing web-enhanced stories. Stephen has written about 325 books for the first reader to young adult thrillers. All his books have a value-based issue in the story line.
Stephen Cosgrove says…”The internet is a wonderfully designed box, no more no less. Unless that box is filled with content, it is just that, a wonderfully designed box” .
http://www.equitainment.com.au/factsh... - Nationality
- USA
- Birthplace
- Metaline Falls, Washington, USA
- Places of residence
- Metaline Falls, Washington, USA
Kennewick, Washington, USA
Burley, Idaho, USA
Boise, Idaho, USA
San Antonio, Texas, USA
Austin, Texas, USA - Associated Place (for map)
- USA
Members
Discussions
Found: Vintage illustrated childrens story book involving a yeti (maybe?) and a white seal in Name that Book (September 2023)
Reviews
In the Land of Whim, under the shadow of the Quirk Mountains, lived the peaceful Whimsies—plump furry creatures who loved to garden, and who delighted in all of the fruits of the earth. Nothing pleased them more than green salad and vegetable soup, carrots and apples to munch on. The twins Blossom and Sprout were no different than their fellows, although they did dislike turnips. Through this (ahem) fatal flaw, the Switch Witch saw her opportunity, convincing them to put on her Sweet Tooth show more necklaces. Soon the twins would only eat sweets, gobbling and gulping them down and refusing all else, until Grandma Whimsie paid a visit, and showed them the decay under the sparkling white exterior of those teeth...
I have long been familiar with the work of author Stephen Cosgrove, whose prolific output stands at around 325 books, not to mention the games, toys and interactive websites he has created. Although I never seemed to pick them up myself, his Serendipity books, which featured magical creatures of all kinds, as well as moral messages, were ubiquitous in my childhood. Gobble and Gulp is one of his six-book series, The Whimsies, and like the Serendipity books, each title is meant to teach a lesson. Specifically, a lesson about some bad habit. Here that bad habit is gluttony, and the addiction to sweets and sugary treats. The negative consequences of Blossom and Sprout's behavior is apparent in a number of areas, from their growing rudeness to their parents to the corruption of their sense of taste, as sugary fare blinds them to the appeal of other foods.
To be honest, I sought this one out because of my interest in witchy picture-books, and my discovery that it featured a witch character—the Switch Witch. Reading the descriptions of the other books in the series, it appears this same character features in all six of the books about the Whimsies, although her role here was brief. In any case, I found this a sweet little tale, despite being alive to its obvious didactic purpose. It is a little text heavy for a picture-book, and the artwork is a little too cute for my taste, although I did (predictably) find the depiction of Switch Witch and her pet dragon, Wizard Lizard, to be interesting. Recommended to those seeking more light-hearted, fictional picture-books about limiting sweet intake and maintaining a healthy diet. show less
I have long been familiar with the work of author Stephen Cosgrove, whose prolific output stands at around 325 books, not to mention the games, toys and interactive websites he has created. Although I never seemed to pick them up myself, his Serendipity books, which featured magical creatures of all kinds, as well as moral messages, were ubiquitous in my childhood. Gobble and Gulp is one of his six-book series, The Whimsies, and like the Serendipity books, each title is meant to teach a lesson. Specifically, a lesson about some bad habit. Here that bad habit is gluttony, and the addiction to sweets and sugary treats. The negative consequences of Blossom and Sprout's behavior is apparent in a number of areas, from their growing rudeness to their parents to the corruption of their sense of taste, as sugary fare blinds them to the appeal of other foods.
To be honest, I sought this one out because of my interest in witchy picture-books, and my discovery that it featured a witch character—the Switch Witch. Reading the descriptions of the other books in the series, it appears this same character features in all six of the books about the Whimsies, although her role here was brief. In any case, I found this a sweet little tale, despite being alive to its obvious didactic purpose. It is a little text heavy for a picture-book, and the artwork is a little too cute for my taste, although I did (predictably) find the depiction of Switch Witch and her pet dragon, Wizard Lizard, to be interesting. Recommended to those seeking more light-hearted, fictional picture-books about limiting sweet intake and maintaining a healthy diet. show less
Dragolin is a children’s picture book in the Seredipity book series, each of which teaches kids important life lessons. It’s about a short, plump, little dragon who can’t breath fire or even make smoke. The other dragons leave him alone, because his attempts to create fire are very funny and they don’t want to hurt his feelings by laughing. Then one day, along comes an armadillo who can’t help but roll around in amusement over this, making Dragolin sad. But the armadillo decides to show more help Dragolin by telling him that the secret to accomplishing something is believing in yourself. Dragolin takes this advice a little too far, trying things that no dragon can do, until the armadillo gently corrects him and helps him find success.
I recall that when I first came across a copy of this book at a library sale, I absolutely couldn’t resist the adorable picture on the cover. This turned out to be a really sweet story. Little Dragolin is so sad that he can’t make fire, but with help from the armadillo, he learns to believe in himself and eventually succeeds. The story has a great message for kids about believing in one’s ability to do something, but not pushing yourself to do things you weren’t made to do. As I mentioned, it was the cover that drew me to the book and all the illustrations are just as cute and whimsical, complementing the story well while eliciting emotions from readers. Dragolin is just too adorable for words. The sweet pictures might draw the interest of younger readers, and the story is perfectly appropriate if an adult reads aloud to them. However, the text is written in paragraphs with a little more challenging vocabulary that would probably be better suited to older kids in the second to fourth grade range who are able to read more independently. Overall, this is a great book with a lovely morality lesson that I think kids will enjoy. show less
I recall that when I first came across a copy of this book at a library sale, I absolutely couldn’t resist the adorable picture on the cover. This turned out to be a really sweet story. Little Dragolin is so sad that he can’t make fire, but with help from the armadillo, he learns to believe in himself and eventually succeeds. The story has a great message for kids about believing in one’s ability to do something, but not pushing yourself to do things you weren’t made to do. As I mentioned, it was the cover that drew me to the book and all the illustrations are just as cute and whimsical, complementing the story well while eliciting emotions from readers. Dragolin is just too adorable for words. The sweet pictures might draw the interest of younger readers, and the story is perfectly appropriate if an adult reads aloud to them. However, the text is written in paragraphs with a little more challenging vocabulary that would probably be better suited to older kids in the second to fourth grade range who are able to read more independently. Overall, this is a great book with a lovely morality lesson that I think kids will enjoy. show less
The Switch Witch strikes again in this entry in author Stephen Cosgrove and illustrator Charles Reasoner's series of picture-books about the Whimsies, a group of colorful soft-furred creatures who lived an idyllic life in the Land of Whim, in the shadow of the Quirk Mountains. Quiet, considerate Bluebell, who always liked to listen to others, is transformed into an insufferable chatterbox after an encounter with the Switch Witch and her pet, Wizard Lizard. Now wearing the Muddle Muffs, she show more only liked to hear her own voice, and was constantly talking over others. Fortunately, Bluebell's mother knew to consult with Grandma Whimsie, who knew just where the trouble lay...
Chatterbox is the second book from The Whimsies series that I have read, following upon Gobble & Gulp. I sought both titles out largely because of the Switch Witch character, given my interest in the depiction of witches in picture-books, early readers and other heavily illustrated texts. Like Cosgrove's better-known Serendipity series, each of the books in The Whimsies series teaches a particular lesson—a lesson about a bad habit. In Gobble & Gulp, the lesson was about gluttony, and eating too many sweets. Here the lesson is about talking too much, even when one has nothing to say and it is inconsiderate of others. In both books, the crisis is precipitated by the witch, who is evidently the antagonist in the Land of Whim, and whose interventions inevitably lead to otherwise innocent Whimsies developing bad behavior.
This is a fairly sweet story, despite the obvious didacticism, and felt very much like a product of the 1980s (which it is), recalling to mind any number of books available at that time, during the course of my childhood. I appreciated the fact that we see more of the witch here—we get to see her traveling wagon, and we learn she lives in the Land of Frippery—as she appears in only one brief scene in the other book. Given my tendency toward completism, I suspect I will eventually seek out the other four books in this series, just to see if the witch appears in all of them. Recommended to those seeking more light-hearted, fictional picture-books about learning to control one's impulse to babble, and resisting the impulse to try to dominate the conversation. show less
Chatterbox is the second book from The Whimsies series that I have read, following upon Gobble & Gulp. I sought both titles out largely because of the Switch Witch character, given my interest in the depiction of witches in picture-books, early readers and other heavily illustrated texts. Like Cosgrove's better-known Serendipity series, each of the books in The Whimsies series teaches a particular lesson—a lesson about a bad habit. In Gobble & Gulp, the lesson was about gluttony, and eating too many sweets. Here the lesson is about talking too much, even when one has nothing to say and it is inconsiderate of others. In both books, the crisis is precipitated by the witch, who is evidently the antagonist in the Land of Whim, and whose interventions inevitably lead to otherwise innocent Whimsies developing bad behavior.
This is a fairly sweet story, despite the obvious didacticism, and felt very much like a product of the 1980s (which it is), recalling to mind any number of books available at that time, during the course of my childhood. I appreciated the fact that we see more of the witch here—we get to see her traveling wagon, and we learn she lives in the Land of Frippery—as she appears in only one brief scene in the other book. Given my tendency toward completism, I suspect I will eventually seek out the other four books in this series, just to see if the witch appears in all of them. Recommended to those seeking more light-hearted, fictional picture-books about learning to control one's impulse to babble, and resisting the impulse to try to dominate the conversation. show less
Sassafras is a little elephant who misguidedly thinks that being a little sassy is a good thing. As we all know, a little sass leads to a lot, and Sassafras soon becomes disrespectful to both parents and teachers alike. In delightful twists and turns, the story teaches the value of simple respect.
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Statistics
- Works
- 271
- Members
- 20,992
- Popularity
- #1,032
- Rating
- 4.0
- Reviews
- 189
- ISBNs
- 653
- Languages
- 5
- Favorited
- 9
