Russell Ginns

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

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.

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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