image from IMDB
Alvin Schwartz was born on April 25, 1927 in Brooklyn, New York to Harry (a taxi driver) and Gussie Schwartz. Alvin had an insatiable curiosity, a passion for words, and a fondness for learning (Wheeler, 2015). He started college in 1944 at New York’s City College, then served in the U.S. Navy during the end of World War II from 1945 to 1946. Afterward, he returned to college and earned his Bachelor’s degree in journalism from Colby College in Maine. He followed that up with a Master’s degree in journalism from Northwestern University in Illinois in 1951.
Schwartz started his career as a newspaper reporter in Binghamton, New York after getting his Masters. It was during this employment that he met Barbara Carmer and they got married. The couple went on to have two sons and two daughters. Alvin left the world of journalism to make more money in public relations, but he wasn’t a big fan of that job. Nor did he like the handful of other jobs he had after that. Eventually, his family moved to Princeton, New Jersey where he served as the Director of Communications for Opinion Research Corporation from 1959 to 1964. While working at the research firm, he taught as an adjunct professor of English at Rutgers University, and also started freelance writing books for children and adults part-time. Eventually, he realized he needed to pursue his love of writing for children. One of his first books, published in 1965, was for adults and called How to Fly a Kite, Catch a Fish, Grow a Flower, and Other Activities For You and Your Child.
In 1966, Alvin Schwartz wrote a non-fiction photographic book for children called The Night Workers. With funding from the government, he also wrote other non-fiction books with simple titles like Store and Museum. When the money dried up for that project, Schwartz had to find a different avenue to explore in the world of children’s books. He decided to go back to his childhood memories and start writing about jokes, riddles, and folk tales. A Twister of Twists, a Tangler of Tongues was published in 1972 as a result of the author diligently researching the history behind the topic and talking with experts in the field. In fact, Alvin was known for his extensive research into and interviews with experts (including children) in the fields he was writing about.
Over the years, Schwartz wrote many books for children, including the popular Scary Stories series which produced quite a lot of controversy and book challenges. Alvin Schwartz continued to write up until the day he passed away. He died of lymphoma on March 14, 1992, the same month his last book was published (Wheeler, 2015). That book is a charming collection of folk poetry called And the Green Grass Grew All Around: Folk Poetry for Everyone, which went on to win numerous awards, including:
- Notable Children’s Books of 1993 (ALA)
- 1993 Fanfare Honor List (The Horn Book)
- 1992 Books for Youth Editors’ Choices (BL)
- Children’s Choices for 1993 (IRA/CBC)
- Children’s Books of 1992 (Library of Congress)
- 100 Books for Reading and Sharing 1992 (NY Public Library)
- Bulletin Blue Ribbons 1992 (BCCB)
- 1993 Notable Trade Books in the Language Arts (NCTE)
- 1993-4 Alabama Emphasis on Reading Award
At the time of his passing, Schwartz had written over 50 books and sold over 3 million copies. His contributions to children’s books are astounding and I believe his older titles need a reprinting so a new generation can learn to love them as mine did.
Fun fact: He frequently gets confused with another writer of the same name. The other Alvin Schwartz wrote Superman and Batman comic books, as well as a book called Blowtop, and photos of him are often incorrectly assigned to Alvin Schwartz, the children’s book author. Oops!
Alvin Schwartz 