Stuart J. Murphy

Stuart J. Murphy (born 1942) is a visual learning specialist and children’s book author. Murphy was born and raised in Rockville, Connecticut, and studied illustration at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). Before co-founding Ligature, a Chicago-based design firm that developed Social Studies, Reading, Science, and Math textbook programs for educational publishers with his business partner Richard Anderson in 1980, Murphy worked as Art Director at Ginn and Company, a Boston-based publisher. While at Ginn, he took a company-sponsored sabbatical to advise on art restorations in Venice, Italy in 1973-74. In 1995, the first three books in Murphy’s 63 book MathStart series were published by HarperCollins Children’s Books. MathStart books teach mathematical skills such as identifying patterns, skip counting and solving for unknowns through a combination of storytelling and visual learning strategies. The series is divided into 3 levels for children ages Pre-K through Grade 4. Taken separately, the 21 Level 1 books comprise one of the largest Pre-K math series available. The MathStart books have received many honors, including being named a Top Ten Nonfiction Series for Young Children by Booklist magazine, a publication of the American Library Association, in and awards from The Bank Street College of Education and The Oppenheim Toy Portfolio. Murphy’s story on negative numbers, Less Than Zero, was named a "Best Book of the Year" by AAAS Science Books & Films magazine. MathStart stories have been translated into Spanish, Korean, Arabic and Chinese and in 2013, sales topped 10 million books. The Main Street Kids’ Club, an original musical based on six of the MathStart books, was workshopped at Northwestern University under the aegis of Rives Collins. Playwright and director Scott Ferguson , who also adapted and directed School House Rock Live! led the workshop, collaborating with composer Michael Mahler on music. Music Theatre International (MTI) coordinates licensing