About The Creators

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Welcome to the world of Chateau Meddybemps!

The writer, illustrator, and designer of all this stuff and nonsense is Jerry Jindrich (pronounced jin'-drik). That's me. I live in the little town of Newburgh, Indiana, with my delightful wife and good friend since first grade, Susan. Susan is responsible for all the material about learning you'll find on the site.

Until my recent retirement, I was the Manager, Internet Design and Development, for a large international company. I designed and managed its corporate and brand Web sites. While that company makes many useful products and I made an indirect contibution to our customers' well being, I always thought Susan's work has had more direct and critical impact on individual lives. The company I worked for provides important nourishment for children. Susan trains their first teachers to give children the best possible learning skills so they have a better chance for success in life.

Susan is the Department Chair, School of Education, at IVY Tech Community College in Evansville, Indiana. She uses her knowledge and talents to improve teachers' skills, as she did for many years on a part-time basis. Previously, Susan spent eighteen years with Head Start, as a classroom teacher, in various managerial roles, and finally as the Director of a three-county program. She is one of those magical people that children instinctively trust and enjoy.

In an effort to do something equally beneficial for society, I have created the Island of Meddybemps. On one level, this is simply a place for grown-ups and children to have fun. There are original stories, amusing characters and whimsical ideas. Wordplay and humorous illustrations abound, offering you opportunities and reasons to smile, maybe even to laugh. But on a second level, Susan and I are building a site that quietly reflects our belief that learning is a wonder-filled experience for all ages - an experience that can be shared by children, parents and teachers. This site celebrates that belief.

It occurred to us that we could use the Internet to help parents and teachers understand how young children learn and what they can do to help build many of the skills those children need to succeed in school. By combining our professional knowledge, skills, and creativity, we're continually adding information and activities to the site. Our goal is to promote understanding and provide useful tools. The Internet gives us an unprecedented opportunity to share this material with people around the world.

Creative Services with simplicty and style

Now that I've left the corporate world, I'm free to take on selected creative projects. While I have a broad range of skillls and experience, I'm most interested in Web site projects and illustration.

Samples of my illustration work appear here.

Examples of web sites I've designed and managed include:
Large, complex sites -
www.meddybemps.com
www.meadjohnson.com
www.enfamil.com
(I managed The Enfamil site for many years
and designed earlier versions of this site.
I oversaw the construction of the current site
and influenced its design.)

Small sites -
www.nextsteplipil.com
www.capeevansville.org
www.jimmyjeng.com
www.tobygloby.com

If you're interested in my illustration or Web design/consulting services, write to me at bananas@meddybemps.com or call me at 812-853-7693.

A Talented Contributor

New levels of interactivity have been added to Chateau Meddybemps thanks to the talents of a terrific illustrator and designer named Suzanne Muse. Suzanne is mastering a program called Flash, which enables many kinds of animation and immediate interaction that were previously difficult if not impossible.

Suzanne is Australian, trained at the Queensland School of Art. Visit Suzanne's Web site (www.musecreative.com) to learn more about her, see samples of her work for a variety of clients, and enjoy her pages on the unique animals of Australia. Her hit site skybreezegames.com is full of virtual paper dolls and lots of fun for young ladies.

We're very lucky to have her help (Flash is not an easy program to learn). Here are links to a few of the pages on this site that she's made more engaging:

Magic Paint Brush
Alphabet Practice Pad
Flower Shop
Pet Shop
Pumpkins
Puzzles
Maze
Matching games

Come Back Often.

Building a site like this one takes time. So come back now and then to see what's new. We add new material monthly and highlight it on the Fun & Games page.

E-Mail your questions, compliments and/or complaints to: bananas@meddybemps.com.

Or mail them to:
Chateau Meddybemps
P.O. Box 1054
Newburgh, IN 47629, U.S.A.

If you enjoy Chateau Meddybemps, share it with others. Parents who are interested in early learning can really help their children with our parenting guides and activities. Everyone enjoys a good children's story or a bit of humor now and then.

If you wish to support the site, buy a Meddybemps.com Collection T-Shirt from Zazzle.com or order 101 Story Starters CD-ROM. Every little bit helps.

Most of all, HAVE FUN!

Cordially yours, Jerry and Susan Jindrich