John Steven Gurney
Author of Dinosaur Train
About the Author
Author and illustrator John Steven Gurney grew up in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. He studied art at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York and drew caricatures on the boardwalk in Atlantic City, New Jersey during the summers. While in college, he won a national poster contest for Molson's Golden Ale show more which appeared in Rolling Stone magazine. It was seen by the art directors at Ariel Books and led to his first picture book assignment. He is the illustrator of over 100 children's books including all of the titles in The Bailey School Kids and The A to Z Mysteries series. His illustrations have also appeared in children's magazines like Cricket, Babybug, and Ladybird as well as non-children's magazines like TV Guide and National Lampoon. He also illustrated the board game Guess Who for Milton Bradley. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Works by John Steven Gurney
Associated Works
Santa Claus Doesn't Mop Floors / Mrs. Claus Doesn't Climb Telephone Poles (2003) — Illustrator — 31 copies
A to Z Mysteries Complete 29-Book Set (26 Mysteries and 3 Super Specials) (2009) — Illustrator — 11 copies
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Other names
- Gurney, John
- Birthdate
- 1962-01-11
- Gender
- male
- Education
- Pratt Institute
Hartford Art School (MFA, Illustration) - Occupations
- freelance illustrator
- Organizations
- Professeur, School of Historical studies, Newcastle University; Newcastle on Tyne, England, UK (@2007)
- Short biography
- [excerpted from author's website]
John Steven Gurney has illustrated over 140 chapter books and has illustrated board games, advertising, posters, puzzles, and a shopping bag for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. John has worked as a caricature artist from Atlantic City to Las Vegas, and on the streets of New York City, but primarily in New England.
John grew up in Pennsylvania reading Dr. Seuss books and watching Bugs Bunny cartoons. As he grew older his reading material shifted to Mad Magazine, and then to J.R.R. Tolkien (but he never stopped watched Bugs Bunny cartoons). He studied illustration at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY, and received his MFA in Illustration from the Hartford Art School. He teaches illustration and design at Kutztown University in Kutztown, PA.
John loves visiting schools to talk about illustration. Since 2002 he has visited schools in 31 different states, and five countries. John lives in Brattleboro, Vermont with his wife Kathie. He has used more than 40 people from his town to pose as characters for his books. He loves running and cycling, except when there's too much snow, in which case he cross country skis and plays racquetball. - Nationality
- USA
- Birthplace
- Lancaster, Pennsylvania, USA
- Places of residence
- Bucks County, Pennsylvania, USA
Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA
Brattleboro, Vermont, USA - Associated Place (for map)
- USA
Members
Reviews
No seafaring adventure is too dangerous for this crew except, perhaps, the captain's attitude.
In the attic, Jack has the perfect set-up for a pirate adventure, and he, of course, is captain. He sets to sea on his own, but then spies, one by one, his friends passing outside and invites them aboard. Soon, an entire crew is scrubbing deck, hoisting sails and exploring the vast waters. Except no one is allowed to steer outside of the captain. Soon, the crew isn't nearly as happy as the ought to show more be.
When I read the blurb on this one, I was afraid that it might be too strong on the message end. I was happily surprised. Imagination unfolds beautifully in these pages. It starts with the wonderful attic scenes, showing the fun play space Jack has to work with...simple, but shows how imagination can take flight. Then, the ocean scenes come to life, and what a treat they are! It invites kids to start up their own adventures (on the sea or otherwise) and prods with ideas and inspirations on how they can let their fantasies unwind. And much of this is thanks to the wonderfully done illustrations. Along with the text, they bring the book to life.
The author has done a great job at weaving in pirate language in a childlike manner by throwing in nonsense words along the way. All sound pirate-ish, although some aren't really. To help know which words truly originate from the pirating world, there is a glossary at the end of the book, which explains them as well as points out the nonsense words. It's a fun mix.
There's a great cast of characters. My favorite, the mermaid, added a lovely touch and twisted the beginning of the message part in with clever finesse. The solution comes across very naturally, while still being clear...something which is hard to accomplish.
This is a lovely read especially for pirate and imagination friends. The adventure is fun and inspirational, and appropriate for read-alouds as well as kids who have a slightly better grip on reading. It has a lovely message, but this does not drown out the fun and excitement pure fantasy can bring.
I received a complimentary copy and found this book so fun that I wanted to leave my honest thoughts. show less
In the attic, Jack has the perfect set-up for a pirate adventure, and he, of course, is captain. He sets to sea on his own, but then spies, one by one, his friends passing outside and invites them aboard. Soon, an entire crew is scrubbing deck, hoisting sails and exploring the vast waters. Except no one is allowed to steer outside of the captain. Soon, the crew isn't nearly as happy as the ought to show more be.
When I read the blurb on this one, I was afraid that it might be too strong on the message end. I was happily surprised. Imagination unfolds beautifully in these pages. It starts with the wonderful attic scenes, showing the fun play space Jack has to work with...simple, but shows how imagination can take flight. Then, the ocean scenes come to life, and what a treat they are! It invites kids to start up their own adventures (on the sea or otherwise) and prods with ideas and inspirations on how they can let their fantasies unwind. And much of this is thanks to the wonderfully done illustrations. Along with the text, they bring the book to life.
The author has done a great job at weaving in pirate language in a childlike manner by throwing in nonsense words along the way. All sound pirate-ish, although some aren't really. To help know which words truly originate from the pirating world, there is a glossary at the end of the book, which explains them as well as points out the nonsense words. It's a fun mix.
There's a great cast of characters. My favorite, the mermaid, added a lovely touch and twisted the beginning of the message part in with clever finesse. The solution comes across very naturally, while still being clear...something which is hard to accomplish.
This is a lovely read especially for pirate and imagination friends. The adventure is fun and inspirational, and appropriate for read-alouds as well as kids who have a slightly better grip on reading. It has a lovely message, but this does not drown out the fun and excitement pure fantasy can bring.
I received a complimentary copy and found this book so fun that I wanted to leave my honest thoughts. show less
Salty Jack runs his pirate ship from his bedroom. He invites his friends to join him and assigns them a role on this ship. The first thing he shouts at them is that he is the one who gives the orders. My grandson immediately told me that he was not being very nice. His friends played along for awhile, but then wanted to try steering, or using their map and Salty Jack got very angry and told them no. When a mermaid refuses to follow Salty Jack's orders, the other crew members mutiny. Our show more captain learns from this experience and commands differently the next day. Of course the lesson is to share, not be bossy and let everyone give a suggestion or idea for the game. When we talked about the book, my grandson had a lot of ideas about what Jack did wrong at the beginning and what he did better at the end so his friends were happy. The book's illustrations alternate between Salty Jack's bedroom ship and the imaginary high seas and treasure islands.
This is a book could be a read-aloud or for a young reader to read independently. It is a tale that shows the importance of sharing in a way that uses humor, real seagoing words and some great words coined by the author's imagination. There are some difficult content words that are in a glossary at the back. This would be a great addition to a Kindergarten or primary classroom, school or public library. The publisher, Schiffer Publishing Ltd. - Schiffer Kids, generously provided me with a copy of this book via Netgalley. show less
This is a book could be a read-aloud or for a young reader to read independently. It is a tale that shows the importance of sharing in a way that uses humor, real seagoing words and some great words coined by the author's imagination. There are some difficult content words that are in a glossary at the back. This would be a great addition to a Kindergarten or primary classroom, school or public library. The publisher, Schiffer Publishing Ltd. - Schiffer Kids, generously provided me with a copy of this book via Netgalley. show less
The imagination exhibited and the lesson learned in this story is commendable, but overall, it's lackluster. It's not going to win any awards for creativity or mind-blowing concepts. It's a cute book with a basic premise and written well enough, but it's headed for the bargain bin.
Most pirates my not want to plunder this book. It’s an okay story of a boy whose bedroom is his pirate ship. All his friends are invited on board as long as they take his positions and his orders. But when people stop having fun, they abandon ship. Everyone wants a chance to be the Captain, and have say in the workings of the ship. This is a fine advanced easy reader, but nothing that has classic potential.
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Associated Authors
Statistics
- Works
- 10
- Also by
- 107
- Members
- 954
- Popularity
- #26,999
- Rating
- 3.7
- Reviews
- 11
- ISBNs
- 29