Jean Van Leeuwen


Jean Van Leeuwen is the author of over forty children's books, including the Oliver Pig series, and Bound for Oregon. She studied journalism at Syracuse University and currently lives in Chappaqua, New York.

The Great Mouse Gang Series

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 and the sensitive, explosive-loving Fats. 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. In 1986, the first book was adapted into a Czechoslovakian animated film.