Jean Van Leeuwen: Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|American author (1937–2025)}}

{{BLP sources|date=June 2015}}

'''Jean Van Leeuwen''' (born December 26, 1937)<ref>Library of– CongressMarch Authorities database3, retrieved2025) 1/8/2008</ref>was isan theAmerican children's book author, of over forty children's books, including the ''[[Oliver Pig (book character)|Oliver Pig]]'' series, and ''Bound for Oregon''. She currently lives in [[Chappaqua]], [[New York (state)|New York]].

==Background==

==The Great Mouse Gang Series==

Van Leeuwen was born in [[Glen Ridge, New Jersey]], on December 26, 1937, and raised in [[Rutherford, New Jersey]].<ref name = Sandomir>{{cite web|title=Jean Van Leeuwen, 87, Dies; Wrote ‘Oliver Pig’ Series of Children’s Books|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/04/books/jean-van-leeuwen-dead.html|publisher=[[The New York Times]]|date=April 4, 2025|last=Sandomir|first=Richard | author-link=Richard Sandomir |access-date=April 4, 2025}}</ref> She studied journalism at [[Syracuse University]], and worked for ''[[TV Guide]]'' and as a book editor for several years.<ref name = Sandomir/><ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/educational-magazines/van-leeuwen-jean-1937| title = Van Leeuwen, Jean 1937- {{!}} Encyclopedia.com}}</ref>

From 1969 to the present, Jean has written five children's novels about a gang of three mice in New York City, led by the daredevil Marvin, who prefers to be called "Merciless Marvin the Magnificent". His two cohorts in adventure are the scholarly Raymond("the Rat") and the sensitive Fats("the Fuse", although his birth name is revealed to be ''Dudley'' in the most recent story).

Originally, the trio lived in the Bijou Theater, but Marvin led them in a semi-successful robbery of a cheese shop down the street, and they temporarily moved in there. At the start of the second story, they move into a dollhouse in the toy section of Macy's Department Store, and all subsequent adventures have either taken place or begun there. All titles of the gang's stories have been titled "The Great something-or-other", and take place in Manhattan(except for the fourth, which begins when the gang is accidentally sent to Vermont in a care package). In 1986, the first book was adapted into a [[Czechoslovakian]] animated film.

Van Leeuwen and her husband, Bruce Gavril, had two children.<ref name = Sandomir/> She died from cancer at her home in [[Chappaqua, New York]], on March 3, 2025, at the age of 87.<ref name = Sandomir/>

==Career==

===The Great Mouse Gang Series===

Van Leeuwen wrote five children's novels about a gang of three mice in New York City, led by the daredevil Marvin, who prefers to be called "Merciless Marvin the Magnificent". His two cohorts in adventure are the scholarly Raymond ("the Rat") and the sensitive, explosive-loving Fats ("the Fuse", although his birth name is revealed to be Dudley in the most recent story). Originally, the trio lived in the Bijou Theater, but Marvin led them in a semi-successful robbery of a cheese shop down the street, and they temporarily moved in there. At the start of the second story, they move into a dollhouse in the toy section of Macy's Department Store, and all subsequent adventures have either taken place or begun there. All titles of the gang's stories have been titled "The Great something-or-other", and take place in Manhattan(except for the fourth, which begins when the gang is accidentally sent to Vermont in a care package). In 1986, the first book was adapted into a [[Czechoslovakian]] animated film.

* ''The Great Cheese Conspiracy'' (1969)

*:In 1986, the book was adapted into a [[Czechoslovakia|Czechoslovakian]] animated film ''[[The Great Cheese Robbery (1986 film)|The Great Cheese Robbery]]'' ({{langx|cs|Velká sýrová loupež}}) directed by Václav Bedřich.<ref>''International Film Guide'', Tantivy Press, 1989, [https://books.google.com/books?id=ENlkAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Jean+van+Leeuwen%22+%22Velk%C3%A1+s%C3%BDrov%C3%A1+loupe%C5%BE%22&dq=%22Jean+van+Leeuwen%22+%22Velk%C3%A1+s%C3%BDrov%C3%A1+loupe%C5%BE%22&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj94sHcz-GJAxVWIDQIHVyYFNQQ6AF6BAgFEAI p.136]</ref>

* ''The Great Christmas Kidnaping Caper'' (1975)

* ''The Great Rescue Operation'' (1981)

* ''The Great Summer Camp Catastrophe'' (1992)

* ''The Great Googlestein (Guggenheim) Museum Mystery'' (2003)

* ''Bound for Oregon'' (1996)

* ''The Great Googlestein(Guggenheim) Museum Mystery'' (2003)

===Oliver and Amanda===

* ''Tales of Oliver Pig'' (1979)

* ''More Tales of Oliver Pig'' (1981)

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Van Leeuwen, Jean}}

[[Category:1937 births]]

[[Category:2025 deaths]]

[[Category:American children's writers]]

[[Category:American people of Dutch descent]]

[[Category:American women novelists]]

[[Category:Writers from Bergen County, New Jersey]]

[[Category:20th-century American novelists]]

[[Category:21st-century American novelists]]

[[Category:LivingAmerican peoplewomen children's writers]]

[[Category:Women children's writers]]

[[Category:20th-century American women writers]]

[[Category:21st-century American women writers]]

[[Category:American literary editors]]

[[Category:People from Chappaqua, New York]]

[[Category:People from Glen Ridge, New Jersey]]

{{US-child-writer-stub}}

[[Category:People from Rutherford, New Jersey]]

[[Category:Novelists from New York (state)]]

[[Category:Novelists from New Jersey]]

[[Category:Deaths from cancer in New York (state)]]