Wikipedia

Russell Ginns

Russell Ginns is a game designer,[1][2][3] writer,[4][5] and composer, primarily known for children's fiction, puzzles, and educational games and songs. He is the author of more than 100 books, including Super Atomic Wombat Girl, Puzzlooies, 1-2-3 Scream! and the Samantha Spinner series. He has created or contributed to several notable software titles, including Castle Infinity, Hooked on Phonics, Reader Rabbit and Half-Life.

Russell Ginns
Ginns at the 2022 Virginia Children's Book Festival
Alma materUniversity of Michigan
Occupation(s)Writer, game designer, composer, producer
Websiterussellginns.com

Publishing edit

Ginns worked as an editor for Sesame Street Magazine, 3-2-1 Contact, and The Electric Company. He created the Nintendo Adventure Books series.[6][7] and several dozen puzzle books, choose-your-own-adventure books, and young adult fiction. Titles include Puzzlooney!,[8][9][10] Go Figure, Midnight Science!,[11] and The Big Book of Kids' Puzzles.[12][13] Ginns created more than 100 workbooks for Sylvan Learning,[14][15] Dr. Seuss, Berenstain Bears, and Hooked on Phonics.

Between 2013 and 2015, Ginns wrote four collections of board books (The Little Box of Love; The Little Box of Laughs; The Little Box of Bedtime; and The Little Box of Classics) for Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. This series includes Is There a Chance You’ve Seen My Pants?,[16] Bird on My Head, and Monster Love.

In 2017, Random House published the first title in Ginns's book series, Samantha Spinner and the Super-Secret Plans.[17][18][19] He wrote My Big Book of Feelings for Rodale Press in 2020,[20] the graphic novel Super Atomic Wombat Girl, and the Puzzlooies, series, a hybrid puzzle-story book format.[21] The initial launch featured twelve titles, including Marooned on the Moon, One of Our Giant Robots Is Missing, and Space Cats to the Rescue.[22] His 2022 title 1-2-3 Scream! is an anthology of humorous horror stories.[23]

Ginns has also been published under the names Clyde Bosco, P. C. Russell Ginns, Jacques Barniarde, Kravis Winewater, Hans Shingle, and R. U. Ginns.

Games and interactive media edit

Ginns was the lead designer of [24] Castle Infinity,[25] the first MMORPG for kids. He wrote the original story treatment for Valve's Half-Life, as well as games for Hooked on Phonics,[26] Hasbro, Sesame Street, and Lode Runner.

Ginns has worked as a designer/producer with several independent game publishers, developing titles that include Crop Circles,[27][28] Pop! The Balloon Dog Puzzle Game,[29] and AlphaNatix.,[30] Thud!, Mercury Messenger, and Smart Kart.

His published board games include Wordspot,[31] Schmear, Search Party, and Chess on the Loose.

Bibliography edit

  • 1991: Super Mario Bros. Double Trouble ISBN 978-0671741129
  • 1991: Super Mario Bros. Leaping Lizards ISBN 978-0671741136
  • 1994: Go Figure! Puzzles, Puns, and Funny Figures of Speech ISBN 9780553481822
  • 1995: Puzzlooney! ISBN 978-0716765325
  • 1996: Midnight Science ISBN 978-0716765691
  • 2009: Chick-Chick the Ping-Pong Champ ISBN 978-1940384146
  • 2013: Is There a Chance You've Seen My Pants? ISBN 978-0544340282
  • 2014: Bird On My Head ISBN 978-0544340213
  • 2014: Monster Love ISBN 978-0544357952
  • 2016: Samantha Spinner and the Super-secret Plans ISBN 978-1524720001
  • 2017: Samantha Spinner and the Spectacular Specs ISBN 978-1524720049
  • 2018: Samantha Spinner and the Boy in the Ball ISBN 978-1984849229
  • 2019: My Big Book of Feelings ISBN 978-0525571407
  • 2020: One of Our Giant Robots Is Missing ISBN 978-0525572084
  • 2020: The Last Donut ISBN 978-0525572077
  • 2021: Marooned on the Moon ISBN 978-0593450291
  • 2021: Don't Feed Fluffy! ISBN 978-0525572169
  • 2022: 1-2-3 Scream! ISBN 978-0593374078

References edit

  1. ^ Boardgamegeek.com Designers Profile, Seven published board game titles as of July 2013.
  2. ^ Mohammed, Arshad (12 November 2005). "Atari Invites Parents to Travel Back to the '70s". Washington Post. Retrieved 23 May 2012.
  3. ^ "Russell Ginns Video Game Credits and Biography". MobyGames.
  4. ^ [1] Russell Ginns "About the Author"
  5. ^ "Russell Ginns". www.librarything.com.
  6. ^ Gamebooks: Nintendo Adventure Books Retrieved 11 October 2014.
  7. ^ "Choose your own adventure with this remake of Nintendo's Adventure Books". 26 January 2017.
  8. ^ Ginns, Russell (1994). Puzzlooney: Really Ridiculous Math Puzzles. Scientific American Books for Young Readers. ISBN 978-0-7167-6532-5. OCLC 29522915. Retrieved 11 October 2014.
  9. ^ Bamford, Rosemary A.; Kristo, Janice V. (1 October 1998). Making facts come alive: choosing quality nonfiction literature K-8. Christopher-Gordon Publishers. p. 129. ISBN 978-0-926842-67-0. Retrieved 23 May 2012.
  10. ^ Whitin, David J.; Wilde, Sandra (1995). It's the Story That Counts: More Children's Books for Mathematical Learning, K-6. Pearson Education Canada. p. 222. ISBN 978-0-435-08369-4. Retrieved 11 October 2014.
  11. ^ "Books". Tuscaloosa News. 28 February 1995. Retrieved 23 May 2012.
  12. ^ Ginns, P.C. Russell (1992). Big Book of Kids' Puzzles. Bantam Books. ISBN 978-0-553-37074-4. OCLC 27191414. Retrieved 11 October 2014.
  13. ^ Roback, Diane (1 March 1993). "Odds-on favorites: big action at the box office boosts front list sales". Publishers Weekly.
  14. ^ Learning, Sylvan (6 July 2010). 3rd Grade Jumbo Math Success Workbook: 3 Books in 1--Basic Math, Math Games and Puzzles, Math in Action; Activities, Exercises, and Tips to Help Catch Up, Keep Up, and Get Ahead. Random House Children's Books. ISBN 9780375430510 – via Google Books.
  15. ^ Learning, Sylvan (19 January 2010). Fifth Grade Basic Math Success. Random House Children's Books. ISBN 9780375430459 – via Google Books.
  16. ^ "Book Set Review: "The Little Box of Laughs" by Russell Ginns". Examiner.com. 20 August 2014.
  17. ^ "SAMANTHA SPINNER AND THE SUPER-SECRET PLANS | Kirkus Reviews" – via www.kirkusreviews.com.
  18. ^ "SAMANTHA SPINNER AND THE SUPER-SECRET PLANS by Russell Ginns Read by Kathleen McInerney Grover Gardner | Audiobook Review". AudioFile Magazine.
  19. ^ Post, Christina Barron The Washington. "KidsPost Summer Book Club: 'The Lifters'". Macomb Daily.
  20. ^ Giles, Juanita (29 December 2020). "The Kids' Books That Helped 2020 Go By — And A Few To Look Forward To". NPR. Archived from the original on 5 May 2021.
  21. ^ "Author Chat with Russell Ginns & Jonathan Maier (PUZZLOOIES! A New Solve-The-Puzzle Adventure Series), Plus Giveaway! ~ (US Only) - the Official YABC Blog". Archived from the original on 11 May 2021. Retrieved 12 May 2021.
  22. ^ "SPACE CATS TO THE RESCUE | Kirkus Reviews".
  23. ^ "Books We Love".
  24. ^ Ernst, S. (25 August 2000). "Software teaches toddlers, also tracks their progress". Puget Sound Business Journal.
  25. ^ "Picks and Pans Review: The Buddy System". People. Vol. 46, no. 17. 21 October 1996. Archived from the original on 22 July 2018. Retrieved 11 October 2014.
  26. ^ "Plants Versus Zombies". Media Macaroni. 29 August 2009. Retrieved 11 October 2014.
  27. ^ "Anxious Aliens Have No Appetite for Bad Beef!: Zero Entertainment Reveals Crop Circles" (Press release). PR Newswire. 21 April 1998.
  28. ^ "Cattle on a Hot Tin Roof! Zero Entertainment Launches Crop Circles" (Press release). PR Newswire. 27 August 1998.
  29. ^ "Save This Balloon Dog – Or Bust!: Pop! The Balloon Dog Puzzle Game Is Now Available Online" (Press release). PR Newswire. 19 March 1998. Archived from the original on 10 June 2016.
  30. ^ "Computer Game Captures Kidney Thieves.Zero Entertainment Releases AlphaNatix: Urban Legends Edition" (Press release). PR Newswire. 2 June 1998.
  31. ^ "WordSpot". BoardGameGeek.

External links edit

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