Jess Brallier facts for kids
Jess M. Brallier (born May 31, 1953) is a publisher who creates many different types of media. He works on popular books, websites, apps, and even virtual worlds. One of his most famous projects is Poptropica, a huge online world for kids. He helped launch very popular brands like Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Galactic Hot Dogs. Jess Brallier also helped Poptropica become more than just a website, turning it into toys, educational tools, and books. He has written or co-written 31 books himself.
Jess Brallier's Publishing Journey
Jess Brallier started his career in marketing for book publishers. These included well-known companies like Harcourt Brace Jovanovich and Little Brown. In 1992, he created a special part of Penguin Group just for children's books, called Planet Dexter.
In 2007, Jess Brallier launched Poptropica. This is an online role-playing website made for kids. On Poptropica, players create their own virtual characters, called "avatars." They then get to be part of exciting stories and adventures.
Poptropica grew to be the biggest virtual world for kids around the globe. Children from over 130 countries visited the site. They could enjoy it in more than 100 languages. The website had about 10 million kids visiting every month. Because of its popularity, Time Magazine named Poptropica one of its 50 Best Websites. Family Fun magazine also listed it as one of the top 10 fun websites.
Jess Brallier used another website called FunBrain to do something special. In 2004, he was the first to publish Jeff Kinney's Diary of a Wimpy Kid online. This was two years before the book was printed! He did something similar in 2013 with the online graphic novel series Galactic Hot Dogs.
Jess Brallier also worked as a Senior Vice President and Publisher for Pearson's Family Education Network. This company published online content for parents, teachers, and people looking for information. The Family Education Network ran Funbrain and Poptropica. Later, in 2015, another company called Sandbox Partners bought it.
Jess Brallier has written or co-written more than 30 books. About half of these books are for adults, and the other half are for children.
He also won an award called the Literary Marketplace Individual Achievement Award. He received this award for his great marketing work. He helped three books become New York Times bestsellers. These books were Reinventing Government, Mama Makes Up Her Mind, and Touchpoints.
Jess Brallier also gives speeches at events.
About Jess Brallier's Life
Jess Brallier grew up in Ligonier, Pennsylvania. He went to the University of Pittsburgh and Boston University. He earned degrees from both schools. Today, he and his wife live in New York City. Jess Brallier works from both Boston and New York. They have two grown-up children. One of their children is Max Brallier, who is also an author and wrote Galactic Hot Dogs.
Books by Jess Brallier
- Tess's Tree (illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds)
- Presidential Wit and Wisdom: Maxims, Mottoes, Sound Bites, Speeches, Asides, and Memorable Quotes from America’s Presidents with Sally Chabert
- Celebrate America! with Sally Chabert
- Lawyers and Other Reptiles
- Lawyers and Other Reptiles II: The Appeal
- Y2Kids: Your Guide to the Millennium
- Medical Wit and Wisdom: The Best Medical Quotations from Hippocrates to Groucho Marx with Sally Chabert
- The Hot Dog Cookbook: The Wiener Work the World Awaited
- The Pessimist’s Journal of Very, Very Bad Days with Richard McDonough
- The Pessimist’s Journal of Very, Very Bad Days of the 1980s with Richard McDonough
- This Book Really Sucks!
- “Whaddaya Doin’ in There?!” A Bathroom Reader for Kids
- Play Ball!
- Money Madness
- The Cocktail Hour with Sally Chabert
- Write Your Own Living Will with Bradley E. Smith
- Bouncing Science
- Hairy Science
- Shadowy Science
- Thumbs Up Science
- Who Was Albert Einstein?.
- Calculator Mania
- Shake, Rattle, and Roll! Cool Things to Do with Dice
- Going, Going, Gone: This Book Disappears!
- Magnetic Pattern Blocks
- The Really, Really Classy Donald Trump Quiz Book
