Edward Packard (writer) facts for kids

Edward Burtt Packard Jr., born on February 16, 1931, is a famous American author. He is best known for creating the idea behind the popular Choose Your Own Adventure books. In these books, you are the hero, and you decide what happens next! This type of story, where the reader makes choices, is called "interactive fiction."

Packard has written over 50 books in the Choose Your Own Adventure series. He has also written many other books for kids, poems, and essays. Besides being a writer, he is also a lawyer. He still writes books and shares his thoughts on his website.

Edward Packard's Life and Career

Edward Packard was born in Huntington, New York. He went to Princeton University and later studied law at Columbia Law School. He is the grandfather of actor David Corenswet.

How the "Choose Your Own Adventure" Idea Started

Edward Packard came up with the amazing idea for interactive stories while telling bedtime stories to his children. He would make up stories as he went along and then ask his kids, "What do you think happened next?" Each child would have different ideas, and this made the stories exciting and unique every time.

Packard wrote the very first book like this, called Sugarcane Island, in 1969. It was published in 1976. In this book, the reader is shipwrecked on an island. On almost every page, you make a choice about what to do next. For example, if you choose to walk along the beach, you turn to one page. If you climb a hill, you turn to a different page. Your choices change the story, leading to different adventures, dangers, or treasures. You can even escape the island if you make the right choices!

The Famous "Choose Your Own Adventure" Series

Sugarcane Island and Packard's next two books, Deadwood City and The Third Planet From Altair, were the first examples of what would become the Choose Your Own Adventure series.

At first, big publishers didn't understand Packard's new idea. But in 1976, Sugarcane Island was finally published. Publishers Weekly magazine called it "an original idea, well carried out."

When Packard's next two books came out, their covers told readers they were special. They said things like "Choose Your Own Adventure in the Wild West" or "Choose Your Own Adventure in Outer Space." Readers were even warned not to read the book straight through, but to follow their choices!

In 1979, a company called Bantam Books saw the potential in Packard's interactive books. They launched the famous Choose Your Own Adventure series. Packard wrote the very first book in this new series, called The Cave of Time. It was a time-travel story where readers explored a cave that could take them to different times in history.

Packard wrote over 60 books for the series until it ended in 1998. He kept the series exciting by writing stories in many different genres. He wrote time-travel stories, spy adventures, space operas, westerns, mysteries, science fiction, and fantasy books. In one of his books, Hyperspace, Packard even appeared as a character himself!

Packard also created a recurring character in many of his books: Dr. Nera Vivaldi. She is a scientist who often helps the reader. She seems to be ageless and appears in stories set in many different times and even in outer space. In Hyperspace, Dr. Vivaldi even knows that she is a fictional character from the books!

Since 2012, some of Packard's Choose Your Own Adventure stories have been re-released as "U-Ventures" by Simon & Schuster. These include Through the Black Hole and Return to the Cave of Time.

In 2004, Packard's Space Hawks series, which is about Earth defending itself from aliens, was published in China.

Interactive Book Apps

In 2010, Edward Packard started a new company called U-Ventures. This company began making Choose Your Own Adventure style apps for iPhones and iPads. These apps were based on some of Packard's popular books. The first app, "Return to the Cave of Time," was released in August 2010.