{{short description|American author of children's literature (born 1952)}} {{Infobox writer <!-- For more information see :Template:Infobox Writer/doc. --> | name = Tor Seidler | image = | image_size = | alt = | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = 1952{{Citation needed|date=November 2015}} <!-- see TALK --> | birth_place = Littleton, New Hampshire | occupation = Novelist, short story writer | language = English | nationality = American | education = | alma_mater = | period = 1979–present | genre = Children's literature | subject = | movement = | notableworks = ''A Rat's Tale''<br />''The Wainscott Weasel'' | relatives = | awards = | signature = | website = {{URL|torseidler.com}} }}
'''Tor Seidler''' (born 1952 in Littleton, New Hampshire<ref>{{cite web|author=Neal Stephenson |url=http://www.harpercollinschildrens.com/Kids/AuthorsAndIllustrators/ContributorDetail.aspx?CId=12703 |title=Tor Seidler |publisher=Harpercollinschildrens.com |date= |accessdate=2015-11-16}}</ref>) is an American author of children's literature. Many of his books feature anthropomorphic animals. ''Mean Margaret'' was nominated for a National Book Award,<ref>Jean Westmoore (December 7, 1997). "Worthwhile Additions to a Young Reader's Library". ''The Buffalo News''. [https://web.archive.org/web/20140611001258/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-22968751.html Archive copy] at HighBeam Research available by subscription only. Opening fragment does not mention Seidler 2015-11-16.</ref> ''The Wainscott Weasel'' was named a Notable Children's Book by the American Library Association, and ''A Rat's Tale'' was named Best Book of the Year by ''Publishers Weekly''.<ref>{{cite web|author= |url=http://www.kidsreads.com/authors/tor-seidler |title=Tor Seidler |publisher=Kidsreads.com |date= |accessdate=2015-11-16}}</ref> In 1998, ''A Rat's Tale'' was adapted into a puppet film by Augsburger Puppenkiste and distributed by Warner Bros. Family Entertainment.<ref>{{cite web|author=Leonard Klady |url=https://www.variety.com/review/VE1117467298/ |title=A Rat's Tale |work=Variety (variety.com) |date=March 19, 1998 |accessdate=2015-11-16}}</ref> 20th Century Fox Animation and Blue Sky Studios planned to adapt ''The Wainscott Weasel'' into a movie, which started development in 2003.<ref>{{cite news|title='Ice Age' Makers To Produce 'Wainscott Weasel'|url=http://www.killermovies.com/w/wainscottweasel/articles/3328.html|work=www.killermovies.com|publisher=KillerMovies|date=November 22, 2003}}</ref> However, Fox shelved the concept in 2006.<ref>{{cite web|author=Ryan Ball |url=http://www.animationmagazine.net/features/fox-falls-for-joyces-leaf-men/ |title=Fox Falls for Joyce's Leaf Men |work=Animation Magazine (animationmagazine.net) |date=August 23, 2006 |accessdate=2015-11-16}}</ref>
Seidler spent his first 11 years in Burlington, Vermont, where his stepfather led the theatre department at the University of Vermont. His family then moved to Seattle, Washington. Seidler studied literature at Stanford University.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gillianmackenzieagency.com/books/authors/45 |title=Clients: Tor Seidler |publisher=Gillian MacKenzie Agency |date= |accessdate=2015-11-16}}</ref> After graduation, he moved to New York City and worked as a bookstore clerk, waiter, bartender, and cab driver while pursuing a writing career. His first book, ''The Dulcimer Boy'', was published in 1979, when he was 27 years old. In 1986, Seidler published his first children's animal story, ''A Rat's Tale.'' He has continued to write children's literature, and taught writing at The New School from 2002 to 2021.<ref>{{Cite web |title=About |url=https://torseidler.com/about/ |access-date=2025-12-04 |website=Tor Seidler |language=en-US}}</ref>
==Published books== <!-- 2015-11-16 evidently intended to be complete for published books -->
* ''The Dulcimer Boy'' (1979) * ''Terpin'' (1982) * ''A Rat's Tale'' (1985) *''The Tar Pit'' (1987) *''Take a Good Look'' (1990) * ''The Steadfast Tin Soldier'' (HarperCollins, 1992) – picture book illustrated by Fred Marcellino, retelling the 1838 fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen, {{LCCN|92052690}} *''The Wainscott Weasel'' (1993) *''Mean Margaret'' (1997) *''The Silent Spinbills'' (1998) *''The Revenge of Randal Reese-Rat'' (2001) *''The Brothers Below Zero'' (2002) *''Brain Boy and the Death Master'' (2003) *''Toes'' (2006) * ''Gully's Travels'' (Scholastic, 2008), {{OCLC|192081861}} <!-- most widely held in WorldCat libraries; not found in LCCatalog which covers all others --> *''Firstborn'' (2015)
==References== {{Reflist|25em}}
==External links== {{Portal |Children's literature}} * {{official website}} <!-- gets from WikiData --> * {{isfdb name|10186}} * {{LCAuth|n78096325|Tor Seidler|23|}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Seidler, Tor}} Category:1952 births Category:American children's writers Category:Living people Category:Stanford University alumni Category:Writers from New Hampshire Category:Writers from New York City Category:Lakeside School (Seattle) alumni Category:American male novelists Category:People from Littleton, New Hampshire