Nancy McArthur is an American children's author

Author

An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...

. Living in Berea, Ohio

Berea, Ohio

- History :The first European settlers were originally from Connecticut. Berea fell within Connecticut's Western Reserve and was surveyed and divided into townships and ranges by one Gideon Granger, a gentleman who served as Postmaster General under President Thomas Jefferson...

, she is a part-time journalism professor at Baldwin-Wallace College

Baldwin-Wallace College

Baldwin–Wallace College is a liberal arts college in Berea, Ohio, founded in 1845. It is home to the Riemenschneider-Bach Institute and the Baldwin–Wallace Conservatory of Music, an internationally renowned music school. The college is affiliated with the United Methodist Church. Students receive a...

. She has written fourteen books, nine of which form a series

Book series

A book series is a sequence of books having certain characteristics in common that are formally identified together as a group. Book series can be organized in different ways, such as written by the same author, or marketed as a group by their publisher....

 called The Plant That Ate Dirty Socks. The series follows the lives of two young brothers, Michael and Norman, along with their sentient

Sentience

Sentience is the ability to feel, perceive or be conscious, or to have subjective experiences. Eighteenth century philosophers used the concept to distinguish the ability to think from the ability to feel . In modern western philosophy, sentience is the ability to have sensations or experiences...

 pet plants, Stanley and Fluffy. The first book in this series

The Plant That Ate Dirty Socks

The Plant That Ate Dirty Socks is a 1988 children's novel by Nancy McArthur. The plot centers around two brothers: Michael, a messy child, and Norman, a neat freak. The book has been taught in the American school system. This often takes place during a unit on plants in the third grade, although...

 is the most popular book she has written. She reworked this book into a play

Play (theatre)

A play is a form of literature written by a playwright, usually consisting of scripted dialogue between characters, intended for theatrical performance rather than just reading. There are rare dramatists, notably George Bernard Shaw, who have had little preference whether their plays were performed...

in 2000.

Works

• Megan Gets a Dollhouse (1988)
• Pickled Peppers (1988)
• The Plant That Ate Dirty Socks (1988)
• The Adventure of the Buried Treasure (1990)
• The Return of the Plant That Ate Dirty Socks (1990)
• The Adventure of the Backyard Sleepout (1992)
• The Escape Of The Plant That Ate Dirty Socks (1992)
• The Secret Of The Plant That Ate Dirty Socks (1993)
• More Adventures Of The Plant That Ate Dirty Socks (1994)
• The Plant That Ate Dirty Socks Goes Up In Space (1995)
• The Mystery Of The Plant That Ate Dirty Socks (1996)
• The Plant That Ate Dirty Socks Gets A Girlfriend (1997)
• The Adventure of the Big Snow (1998)
• The Plant That Ate Dirty Socks Goes Hollywood (1999)