David A. Adler

For other people named David Adler, see David Adler (disambiguation).
David A. Adler

Adler in 2014.
Born (1947-04-10) April 10, 1947
New York City, New York
Occupation Writer
Genre Children's fiction, especially mystery; picture books, especially biography
Subject The Holocaust (for children)
Notable works Cam Jansen mystery series
Website
davidaadler.com

David Abraham Adler (born April 10, 1947) is an American writer of nearly 200 books for children and young adults, most notably the Cam Jansen mystery series, the "Picture Book of ..." series, and several acclaimed works about the Holocaust for young readers.

Biography

Adler was born in New York. He graduated from Queens College in 1968 with a bachelor's degree in economics and education. For the next nine years, he worked as a mathematics teacher for the New York City Board of Education, while taking classes towards a master's degree in marketing, a degree he was awarded by New York University in 1971. In that same year, a question from his then-three-year-old nephew inspired Adler to write his first story, A Little at a Time, subsequently published by Random House in 1976. Adler's next project, a series of math books, drew on his experience as a math teacher. In 1977, he created his most famous character, Cam Jansen, originally featured in Cam Jansen and the Mystery of the Stolen Diamonds, which was published that year.

Adler married psychologist Renee Hamada in 1973, and their first child, Michael, was born in 1977. By that time Adler had taken a break from teaching and, while his wife continued her work, he stayed home, took care of Michael, and began a full-time writing career.

Adler's son, Michael S. Adler, is now the co-author of several books with his father, including A Picture Book of Sam Adams, A Picture Book of John Hancock, and A Picture Book of James and Dolly Madison. Another son, Edward, was the inspiration for Adler's Andy Russell series, with the events described in the series loosely based on adventures the Adler family had with Edward's enthusiasm and his pets.

In June 2016, Adler (together with illustrator Sam Ricks) won the prestigious Theodor Suess Geisel award for the 2015 book "Don't Throw It To Mo!"[1]

As of September 2016, Adler has three sons and four grandsons. He lives in Woodmere, New York.[2]

Books

Cam Jansen mystery series

A series of books following the exploits of a fifth grade female detective named Jennifer "Cam" Jansen and her best friend Eric. Nicknamed Cam for her photographic memory, the protagonist closes her eyes and says "click" at various points in a story, mimicking the noise of a camera while memorizing a scene in front of her. She later recalls these scenes to aid in solving a mystery. The Cam Jansen character was based on an elementary school classmate of Adler's who was believed to have a photographic memory.

A musical theatre production of Cam Jansen appeared off-Broadway and is currently a touring production of Theatreworks USA.

Young Cam Jansen series

Holocaust books for young readers

Bones mystery series

Andy Russell series

Biographies (including the "Picture Book of ...")

Other series

Other

References

  1. ↑ http://www.ala.org/news/press-releases/2016/01/david-adler-sam-ricks-win-geisel-award-don-t-throw-it-mo
  2. ↑ LaGorce, Tammy. "Neighborhood Storytelling", The New York Times, July 13, 2008. Retrieved July 29, 2008. "On Long Island, David A. Adler, 61, the author of the “Cam Jansen” series of young-detective chapter books for Penguin since 1971, draws on his experience as a former middle-school math teacher and on visits to schools around his Woodmere home to inform his plucky heroine's adventures."

External links

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