Marvin Terban

Marvin Terban has been teaching English, Latin, and other subjects at Columbia Grammar and Preparatory School in New York for 60 years.

Terban was born in Chelsea, Massachusetts, and began his career as an author with a book that he wrote and drew in the first grade about a fuzzy green dragon.

For sixty years (1963-2023), he has taught English, Latin, Public Speaking, Computer, Theater, Filmmaking, and other subjects at the Columbia Grammar and Preparatory School (founded 1764) on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City.

[1] Early in his teaching career, Terban worked with schools in the tri-state NYC area that were using the first computers and instructional television in their classes.

Returning to his own classroom with new skills, he developed teaching games that used humor to help students understand and enjoy the mystifying idiosyncrasies of the English language.

The Oxford Encyclopedia of Children’s Literature (2006) said that Marvin Terban’s books are “surprisingly intriguing and humorous” with “catchy titles and humorous illustrations” that “captivate anyone who loves words.” School Library Journal has called his books "excellent," "clever," "enjoyable," "informative," "easy to understand," "lively," "teacher-pleasers," "fascinating," and "just fun to read."

He has paid "Meet the Author" visits to and given presentations about English language arts skills and humor in children's books at schools, colleges, and educational conferences all over the United States, South America, Europe, Israel, China, and Japan.

: A Wagonful of Funny Homonym Riddles (1991) Funny You Should Ask: How to Make up Jokes and Riddles with Wordplay (1992) It Figures: Fun Figures of Speech (1993) Checking Your Grammar (1993) Time to Rhyme (1994) Scholastic Writer's Desk Reference (2001) Punctuation Power: Punctuation and How to Use It (2002) Kids' Guide to the English Language (2002) Building Your Vocabulary (2003) Verbs!

Your Fast And Fun Guide To Writing Research Papers That Rock (2007) The Ultimate Spelling & Vocabulary Reference (2007) In a Pickle: And Other Funny Idioms (2007) Mad as a Wet Hen!