Danny Schnitzlein

Danny Schnitzlein was born in Birmingham, Alabama. He has two brothers and one sister.

"As a kid I was crazy about dinosaurs. They were my proof that fantastic things could exist, and that meant anything was possible. I loved Dr. Seuss' books and Stoo Hample's The Silly Book. As I got older, I loved The Hobbit, by Tolkien. My parents made sure we had lots of books and took us to the library frequently. My mother often read poetry to us before bed."

In third grade Danny's family moved to Tampa, Florida where he got the writing bug.

"My English teacher, Mrs. Williams, gave us tough writing assignments, but we didn't know we couldn't do them . . . so we did them."

While in high school, Danny captained a boat on the African Queen Boat Ride at Busch Gardens, Tampa. He played trumpet in his high school band and directed the marching band as Drum Major.

Danny studied creative writing at Eckerd College and television production at The University of Florida. He has had several careers before becoming an author, including: television writer, video editor, artist, and painting instructor.

Danny's new book, Trick or Treat on Monster Street, was inspired by a "what if."

"I wondered, what if there was a place where monsters celebrated Halloween completely backwards from the way we celebrate it? As a kid I was nutty about Halloween. I would dress as a monster and visit every street in my neighborhood. Then I'd dress as a different monster, visit all the houses again, and hope nobody recognized me."

Danny Schnitzlein's first book, The Monster Who Ate My Peas, was inspired by Danny's childhood hatred of peas. The book received two state awards: Indiana's 2004 Young Hoosier Book Award, and Virginia's 2005-6 VSRA Readers' Choice Award. The book was nominated for Readers' Choice Awards in Maryland, Missouri, and Pennsylvania and was selected to represent the state of Georgia at the 2004 National Book Festival.

Danny was chosen by the Georgia Department of Education to be part of its "READ MORE" initiative. Pitcher, John Smoltz, recited The Monster Who Ate My Peas for a special dvd. See the clip at http://www.glc.k12.ga.us/pandp/media/gareadsmore.htm

Danny's second book, The Monster Who Did My Math, was based on another childhood phobia. MATH!

"I'd ask my dad to help with my Math homework. He'd get out his 300 pound calculator. (Calculators were big in those days). Then he'd work all the problems without explaining them very well. Or maybe I didn't listen very well. When I took my homework to school the next day and discovered that many of his answers were wrong, my fear of Math increased exponentially."

The Monster Who Did My Math was listed as one of the Best Books of 2007 by both Parent and Child Magazine and Atlanta Parent Magazine.

Danny also writes scripts and songs for children's educational television, including "SALSA," a show which teaches Spanish, and "The Organwise Guys," a program about good health. In his spare time he loves playing guitar, reading, painting, hiking, and seeing movies. He lives in the Atlanta area with his family and their Golden Retriever.

Visit dannyschnitzlein.com to learn more about Danny's books and find out how you can bring Danny to your school!