Jen Funk Weber

Jen Funk Weber can turn anything into a puzzle or game. Anything. She is the author of more than a thousand puzzles published in magazines and books. Coming in April 2021 is THE PUZZLER'S GUIDE TO ALASKA: GAMES, JOKES, FUN FACTS & TRIVIA ABOUT THE LAST FRONTIER. It's a natural history guide book and a puzzle book rolled into one super-fun romp through the biggest (and best, according to Zippy, the ermine) state in the US.

She’s also created seven MINECRAFT puzzle books and two ANIMAL CROSSING puzzle books for Sky Pony Press. She has written puzzle books about ALASKA and for Hollywood movies (NANCY DREW and the SPIDERWICK CHRONICLES) and for kids learning vocabulary (VOCABULARY FUNDAMENTALS).

In addition, Jen is thrilled to be the storyline developer for the comic book series SHEEBA AND THE PRIVATE DETECTIVES and the author of seven books in the series.

Her picture book BEEN THERE, DONE THAT: READING ANIMAL SIGNS is based on her favorite thing in the world to do: search for and watch animals in the wild.

Jen and her husband built a home in Alaska where they share their yard (but not Jen’s vegetable garden, if she can help it) with moose, porcupines, snowshoe hares, and squirrels—and occasionally a lynx, coyote, or fox. She tries to remember to look both ways before walking out the door to make sure she doesn’t crash into a moose. She’s had close calls.

Jen loves to travel, especially to visit the homes of wild animals. For a month, she shared a pink house in the Galapagos with hundreds of young marine iguanas. She’s camped with lions in Botswana and eaten lunch alongside elephants in Namibia. She takes care of other people’s pets, and every summer grows enough produce and picks enough wild berries to fill a large freezer.

She also writes for adults about needlework and Alaska tourism, and she regularly interviews award-winning artists for the Mr. X Stitch embroidery blog. She enjoys reading, hiking, and baking, and she never met a craft she didn’t like.