Stephen Cosgrove (writer)

Stephen Cosgrove

Stephen Cosgrove, born July 26, 1945, is a children's author and toy designer. He is known for the Serendipity series of children's books, which formed the basis for 26-episode anime series Serendipity the Pink Dragon.

Early life & education

Stephen Cosgrove was born in Metaline Falls, Washington and raised in Kennewick, Washington, then Burley and Boise, Idaho. He attended Borah High School in Boise, Idaho. Growing up, Cosgrove was greatly influenced by Aesop’s Fables.

In 1963, he received a scholarship to Stephen’s College for Women in Columbia, Missouri. He had other options for college, but at 18, he was one of a handful of men awarded this scholarship and he grabbed it without hesitation. It was in this university that he was first intimidated by creative writing, when he was asked to withdraw from a class after debating with his professor. However, the intimidation was short-lived, and he continued on to be a successful children’s literature author.

Writing career

In 1973, Cosgrove took his 3-year-old daughter to the book store, in attempt to find a fun story with a moral theme. However, all he found were an abundance of over-priced hardcover books that lacked the content he was looking for. He then teamed with illustrator Robin James, and wrote his first four books which began the Serendipity Series: “Serendipity”, “Wheedle on the Needle”, “The Dream Tree”, and “The Muffin Muncher”. His goal in writing these books was to create interesting, fun, affordable books that contained a moral in each story.

The next year, a large New York publishing company offered Stephen a very lucrative and tempting contract, with the promise of many, many more opportunities to come, if he signed and on the condition that he drop the moral themes in his books. He refused and continued on in his search for a publisher. Three months later, Cosgrove established his own publishing company, Serendipity Press, where he was the author, publisher, shipping clerk, and janitor.

In 1978, after selling over 3 million books, Cosgrove merged Serendipity Press with Penguin/Putnam and began focusing on multi-media literature for children.

In 1990, Cosgrove and Wendy Edelson were awarded the Silver Jubilee Honor by Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association (PNBA) for Ira Woodworthy.

In 2002, Cosgrove created http://www.web-pop.com, http://www.bookpop.com, and http://www.chattyhattie.com where children can read stories online with colorful and interactive illustrations. Two years later, in 2004, he created http://www.buggbooks.com, where children can have stories read to them by the author.

Currently, Stephen Cosgrove has written around 325 books, ranging from picture books for younger children to young adult novels.

External links

• Official website
• Web-pop
• Bugg Books

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