Greenberg, David 1954–

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Greenberg, David 1954–

(David T. Greenberg)

PERSONAL:

Born October 13, 1954, in New York, NY; son of Jack (a lawyer and professor) and Sema Greenberg; married; wife's name Sharon; children: Sam. Education: Attended Reed College, Portland, OR. Hobbies and other interests: Reading, swimming, cooking, ping pong, boogy boarding.

ADDRESSES:

Home— Portland, OR.

CAREER:

Author. Lectures in the United States for the Learning Institute; founder of a Chinese egg roll restaurant, Portland, OR.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Children's Choice award, 1990, for The Great School Lunch Rebellion.

WRITINGS:

FOR CHILDREN

Slugs, illustrated by Victoria Chess, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1983.

The Great School Lunch Rebellion, Bantam (New York, NY), 1989.

Your Dog Might Be a Werewolf, Your Toes Could All Explode, Bantam (New York, NY), 1992.

Bugs!, illustrated by Lynn Munsinger, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1997.

Whatever Happened to Humpty Dumpty? And Other Surprising Sequels to Mother Goose Rhymes, illustrated by S.D. Schindler, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1999.

Skunks!, illustrated by Lynn Munsinger, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 2001.

Snakes!, illustrated by Lynn Munsinger, Little, Brown (New York, NY), 2004.

The Book of Boys (for Girls) & the Book of Girls (for Boys), illustrated by Joy Allen, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 2005.

Don't Forget Your Etiquette! The Essential Guide to Misbehavior, pictures by Nadine Bernard Westcott, Farrar, Straus (New York, NY), 2006.

Crocs!, illustrated by Lynn Munsinger, Little, Brown (New York, NY), 2008.

SIDELIGHTS:

David Greenberg has written numerous children's picture books in verse; he is especially noted for his off-kilter sense of humor. Before he began writing seriously, Greenberg started a restaurant and volunteered at local schools to help children with reading and writing. In his autobiography on the Authors and Illustrators Who Visit School Web site, Greenberg recalled: "I started using the poems I'd been writing in my journal as teaching material for these kids, and found, to my astonishment, that they really seemed to enjoy my writing. This gave me the incentive to write more and more."

Greenberg turned to his enjoyment of the outdoors to write a series of books for children featuring various creatures that children and others might consider "yucky." Featured in most of the books is a youngster with a dog for a companion, reflecting the author's own youth. As he noted on Authors and Illustrators Who Visit School: "My best friend growing up was my dog. It's with her that I really learned to use my imagination." The books focus on humor with the child and his or her dog encountering animals who often turn the tables on the protagonists, who poke, prod, and do much more to the creatures. His first book,Slugs, was illustrated by Victoria Chess. Greenberg then joined forces with illustrator Lynn Munsinger to produce Bugs!, Skunks!, Snakes!, and Crocs! In Bugs!, Greenberg features a young boy and his dog and, of course, bugs. Roger Sutton, writing a review of Bugs! in Horn Book, noted: "Tasty, crunchy, squishy—kids will eat this up." Among the outrageous images in verse are using a pepper mill to grind up stink bugs and the deliciousness of a praying mantis pizza. In one verse, the author writes: "Now, you may have had a hunch / if you bite bugs, they will crunch … But bugs have far more uses / Than for barbecues or juices." Another verse suggests: "Wrapped in cast from head to toe / Your brother cannot scratch. / Drop termite larvae down the crack / He'll love it when they hatch." The story includes the boy and dog being chased by a bear who is, in turn, chased by giant bugs. A Publishers Weekly contributor wrote of Bugs! that "by its conclusion, young bugwatchers will be wise to the grossly fun puns."

The author takes the same approach with Skunks! as he did in Bugs! A Publishers Weekly contributor noted that the author's ideas about what kids can do with skunks and skunk spray are "kid-pleasingly disgusting." According to Roger Sutton in Horn Book, Snakes! differs from the grossness featured in the author's previous books in that "this one is more interested in … giving readers a bit of a fright." Overall, the story revolves around a young boy and his terrier, who confront numerous animals but are afraid of snakes. By the end of the book, however, the boy overcomes his fear. School Library Journal critic Grace Oliff predicted: "Fans … will welcome this latest addition to Greenberg's gross-out canon." A Kirkus Reviews contributor commented: "What is so effective here … is that Greenberg never gets cute, but keeps the verse highly palpable."

Greenberg is also author of Whatever Happened to Humpty Dumpty? And Other Surprising Sequels to Mother Goose Rhymes, which is illustrated by S.D. Schindler. This time, the author takes Mother Goose nursery rhymes and puts his own spin to them, such as Jack tripping over the candlestick and catching on fire. In addition to having fun with such famous rhymes as the ones with Humpty Dumpty, Jack Sprat, and Miss Muffet, the author also comes up with twists involving less-famous characters from Mother Goose. A Publishers Weekly contributor noted that the author "gleefully mixes metaphors and scrambles genres."

In The Book of Boys (for Girls) & the Book of Girls (for Boys), illustrated by Joy Allen, Greenberg features boy and girls squabbling over such things as the television remote control and use of the bathroom. The verses poke fun at the difference between the two sexes, with rhymes such as the one that points out that boys will "steal the head off your Barbie doll / And stick it with a pin / You can plead, holler, bawl / Yet all they do is grin." "There will be plenty of grinning about the facts and fancy here," asserted Julie Cummins in Booklist. Catherine Threadgill concluded in School Library Journal: "The lighthearted verse is recommended for its irreverent and highly accessible … appeal."

Greenberg spoofs popular etiquette books in Don't Forget Your Etiquette! The Essential Guide to Misbehavior. With pictures by Nadine Bernard Westcott, the book features "Miss Information," a young girl pretending to have doctoral degrees and to be an expert on etiquette. Throughout the book Miss Information offers a wide range of etiquette tips, from sipping soup from a hat to tucking one's tie in a belt or wearing it as a tail. In one verse the author suggests: "When you shake hands with the mayor, / Talk about the weather, / Say, ‘Excuse me,’ then bend down— / And tie his shoes together." Booklist contributor Randall Enos noted that the author "makes creative use of language, especially in finding words to rhyme with etiquette (pathetiquette, getiquette)." In her review in the School Library Journal, Grace Oliff appreciated the book's "clever poems" and also predicted: "This book will tickle children's funny bones."

Among Greenberg's other books are Your Dog Might Be a Werewolf, Your Toes Could All Explode, and The Great School Lunch Rebellion, which won the Children's Choice award in 1990. The Great School Lunch Rebellion is about a food fight in an elementary school cafeteria that goes on to escalate into a full-fledged rebellion against the bad food that the kids are served at school.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

Greenberg, David T.,Bugs!, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1997.

Greenberg, David T.,Don't Forget Your Etiquette! The Essential Guide to Misbehavior, Farrar, Straus (New York, NY), 2006.

Greenberg, David T.,The Book of Boys (for Girls) & the Book of Girls (for Boys), Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 2005.

PERIODICALS

Booklist, September 1, 1997, Stephanie Zvirin, review of Bugs!, p. 128; May 15, 2004, Hazel Rochman, review of Snakes!, p. 1625; May 15, 2005, Julie Cummins, review of The Book of Boys (for Girls) & the Book of Girls (for Boys), p. 1661; October 1, 2006, Randall Enos, review of Don't Forget Your Etiquette!, p. 55.

Book Report, September-October, 1999, Susan Raben, review of Whatever Happened to Humpty Dumpty? And Other Surprising Sequels to Mother Goose Rhymes, p. 75.

Center for Children's Books Bulletin, November, 1997, review of Bugs!, p. 86.

Emergency Librarian, November, 1983, review of Slugs, p. 37.

Horn Book, June, 1983, review of Slugs, p. 289; June 20, 1983, review of Slugs, p. 289; January-February, 1998, Roger Sutton, review of Bugs!, p. 86; May-June, 2004, Roger Sutton, review of Snakes!, p. 313.

Horticulture, July, 1984, Patti Hagan, review of Slugs, p. 59.

Kirkus Reviews, May 1, 2004, review of Snakes!, p. 442; June 15, 2005, review of The Book of Boys (for Girls) & the Book of Girls (for Boys), p. 683; September 15, 2006, review of Don't Forget Your Etiquette!, p. 954.

Los Angeles Times, August 7, 1983, Barbara Karlin, review of Slugs, p. 6.

New York Times, May 15, 1983, review of Slugs, p. 26.

New York Times Book Review, May 15, 1983, review of Slugs, p. 26; January 14, 2007, Daniel Handler, "Children's Books," review of Don't Forget Your Etiquette!

Publishers Weekly, May 27, 1983, review of Slugs, p. 68; September 25, 1995, review of Slugs, p. 58; July 21, 1997, review of Bugs!, p. 201; March 22, 1999, review of Whatever Happened to Humpty Dumpty?, p. 90; March 19, 2001, review of Skunks!, p. 102; August 25, 2003, review of Skunks!, p. 67.

Rolling Stone, July 21, 1983, review of Slugs, p. 119.

School Library Journal, August, 1983, review of Slugs, p. 51; September 1997, Sally R. Dow, review of Bugs!, p. 202; August, 1999, Ann Cook, review of Whatever Happened to Humpty Dumpty?, p. 171; May, 2004, Grace Oliff, review of Snakes!, p. 112; August, 2005, Catherine Threadgill, review of The Book of Boys (for Girls) & the Book of Girls (for Boys), p. 113; October, 2006, Grace Oliff, review of Don't Forget Your Etiquette!, p. 134.