Berger, Samantha (Allison) 1969-

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BERGER, Samantha (Allison) 1969-

PERSONAL: Born March 21, 1969, in Philadelphia, PA; daughter of David G. Berger (a college professor and author) and Eileen Kitzis (a graduate professor and yoga instructor). Education: Temple University, B.A. (English; cum laude), 1991.

ADDRESSES: Agent—c/o Author Mail, Harry N. Abrams, 100 Fifth Ave., New York, NY 10011.

CAREER: City and Country School, New York, NY, teacher, 1994; C.O.L.L.A.G.E. Comics, Philadelphia, PA, designer, editor, and writer, 1994-97; Scholastic, New York, NY, editor and writer, 1997-2000; Nickelodeon, New York, NY, head writer and editorial director of Nickelodeon, Nick Junior, and Nicktoons TV on-air creative group, 2000—.

MEMBER: A.S.I.F.A. (International Animated Film Association).

AWARDS, HONORS: Promax Silver Award, 2002, for Fairly Odd Parents; New York Book Show Award, for "Side by Side" readers; Building Language for Literacy Award; Ed Press Award for Let's Find Out magazine.

WRITINGS:

Baby Bird, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1999.

Light, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1999.

Honk! Toot! Beep!, illustrated by Gloria Elliott, Scholastic (New York, NY), 2000.

Please Don't Tell about Mom's Bell, illustrated by Rick Brown, Scholastic (New York, NY), 2002.

Spend a Day in Backwards Bay, illustrated by Rick Brown, Scholastic (New York, NY), 2002.

Jan and Stan, illustrated by Rick Brown, Scholastic (New York, NY), 2002.

Ride and Slide, illustrated by R. W. Alley, Scholastic (New York, NY), 2002.

Junior Goes to School, Harry N. Abrams (New York, NY), 2003.

with pamela chanko

Markets, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1998.

Scientists, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1998.

Big and Little, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1998.

School, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1999.

The Boat Book, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1999.

Electricity, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1999.

Festivals, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1999.

It's Spring, illustrated by Melissa Sweet, Scholastic (New York, NY), 2000.

with susan canizares

(With Gloria Elliot) Clay Art with Gloria Elliot, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1998.

What Do Artists Use?, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1998.

Building Shapes, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1998.

Tedd and Huggly, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1998.

Pelé, the King of Soccer, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1999.

Canada, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1999.

(With the Jim Henson Legacy) Meet Jim Henson, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1999.

(With the Jim Henson Foundation) Puppets, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1999.

The Voyage of Mae Jemison, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1999.

Tools, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1999.

Restaurant, Scholastic (New York, NY), 2000.

At Home, Scholastic (New York, NY), 2000.

with daniel moreton

Why Write?, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1998.

Patterns, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1998.

Then and Now, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1998.

It's a Party, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1998.

Celebrations, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1999.

A Day in Japan, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1999.

Games, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1999.

(With Lisa Eve Huberman) Junior in the City, Harry N. Abrams (New York, NY), 2002.

(With Lisa Eve Huberman) Junior on the Farm, Harry N. Abrams (New York, NY), 2002.

with betsey chesson

Hello, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1998.

In the Air, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1999.

Apples, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1999.

other

(With Anne Kennedy) Fifi Ferret's Flute, Scholastic (New York, NY), 2001.

(With Matt Phillips) Worm's Wagon, Scholastic (New York, NY), 2001.

(With Maxie Chambliss) Hide-and-Seek Hippo, Scholastic (New York, NY), 2001.

Also involved with television show Fairly Odd Parents, "Side by Side" reading series, and Let's Find Out magazine.

SIDELIGHTS: Author and illustrator Samantha Berger has written over fifty books for children and has written and illustrated comic books and graphic novels. Many of Berger's books for very young children feature photographs of colorful objects or scenes, and simple descriptive prose. The focus is often on teaching children about their everyday world. Some examples include At Home, which shows the many different things one can do at home, and Celebrations, which explores a number of occasions for celebration, including birthdays and weddings. Electricty has pictures showing how electricity effects everyone's life by contrasting various tasks as they are done with and without electric power, while Light explores different sources of illumination, including sunlight, moonlight, lamplight, and candlelight.

Berger's books for slightly older children contain more complicated plot lines, such as It's Spring, which features animals in the wild playing a kind of telephone game where they let each other know that the season is upon them. Junior in the City and Junior on the Farm each star a pig with poor eyesight who has trouble recognizing things without his glasses. A spin wheel allows the reader to select humorous pictures of things Junior thinks he sees—for example, without his spectacles, the sun could be a pumpkin, a fried egg, or even a flower.

In addition to writing, Berger also does voice-overs for animation and is involved in puppeteering.