SHORT-BUT-TRUE BIO
I’m an elementary school teacher turned reading specialist turned college professor turned children’s book author of the Hide and GEEK series. When I write, I’m “T. P. Jagger.” When I teach, I’m “Dr. J.” And the rest of the time I’m “Tim” or “Dude” or “Daddy-o” or whatever moniker fits the situation.
LONGER, BORING (but-still-true) BIO
I first dreamed of writing children’s books while working as a fourth-grade teacher. As I moved into different teaching positions—first shifting to fifth grade and then becoming a middle school reading specialist with a Ph.D. focused on reading education—my desire to write continued to grow. Now, this website reflects my background:
- Like the majority of my teaching career, my writing focuses on elementary-aged students. This focus may be linked to the competing voices of the 8- and 12-year-old boys arguing with each other in my head. . . .
- As a teacher, I’ve often used readers’ theater with students but found many scripts to be long and boring. If you use my original scripts, I hope you’ll find that they are neither of those things.
- As both a teacher and writer, I know the value of powerful mini-lessons. “The 3-Minute Writing Teacher” video series is meant to aid teachers and writers (and teacher-writers!) who want to learn from brief, ready-to-apply writing tips.
I’m a longtime member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators (SCBWI) and the author of the Hide and GEEK series from Random House Children’s Books.
COMPLETELY FICTITIOUS (except for the last part . . .) BIO
My mother gave birth to me in an Amazonian treehouse. I screamed. But that was only because of what happened when I hit the floor. Once I removed the splinter, I immediately stopped crying and wrote my first novel, The Reign-Forest.
Since then, I’ve published 3,426 novels for adults, all of which were written in hieroglyphics. I’ve also penned an award-winning scientific work—The Buoyant Brain: Why My Brain Floats and Yours Doesn’t—under the pseudonymous guise of Dr. Doogle McGrub.
Now, I’ve finally added children’s books to my publishing credits thanks to Hide and GEEK (Hide and GEEK #1) and The Treasure Test (Hide and GEEK #2) from Random House Children’s Books.
