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Marc Schmatjen

Goodreads Author

Born

in Davis, California, The United States

Website

http://www.smidgebooks.com

Twitter

smidgetweets

Genre

Humor and Comedy, Children's

Influences

Mark Twain, Erma Bombeck, Dave Barry, Carl Hiaasen

Member Since

October 2013

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/schmatjen

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Marc Schmatjen (pronounced “smidgen,” as in, just a smidgen of this or that) was born and raised in Northern California. When he had grown tall enough to leave, he went south. Then he went north. Then he came back and remains in Northern California today with his wife Sandra, raising their three boys, two of whom are semi-normal, and one who is a total nut bar.

Marc writes adventure books for children and family humor columns for adults.

The Sycamore Detective Agency – Headquartered in the historic and mysterious farmhouse known as Barton Manor, nine-year-old Johnny Smith and his younger brothers Matt and Cooper secretly fight crime in Rocklin, California with the help of their adventure-loving grandfather. When bikes begin to go missing in Marc Schmatjen (pronounced “smidgen,” as in, just a smidgen of this or that) was born and raised in Northern California. When he had grown tall enough to leave, he went south. Then he went north. Then he came back and remains in Northern California today with his wife Sandra, raising their three boys, two of whom are semi-normal, and one who is a total nut bar.

Marc writes adventure books for children and family humor columns for adults.

The Sycamore Detective Agency – Headquartered in the historic and mysterious farmhouse known as Barton Manor, nine-year-old Johnny Smith and his younger brothers Matt and Cooper secretly fight crime in Rocklin, California with the help of their adventure-loving grandfather. When bikes begin to go missing in their neighborhood, will the detectives be able to help Chief Mulligan put the thieves behind bars, or will Mr. and Mrs. Smith find out what their boys are up to and shut down The Sycamore Detective Agency for good?

My Giraffe Makes Me Laugh - This magical, sing-songy rhyming book has been captivating children around the world with its fun, lyrical format, and whimsical storyline. (Around the world, in this case, means several metropolitan regions in the U.S., three kids in England, and one orphanage in Uganda.)

The Tree of Death, and Other Hilarious Stories - The first anthology of Marc’s humor columns, which has been met with critical acclaim. “Funny enough to shoot beer out your nose,” and “Don’t read this while eating - you will spit out your food or choke to death on it from laughing,” are just a few of Marc’s favorite spontaneous (read: coerced) reviews from readers.

Just a Smidge (www.justasmidge.com) - One of the most popular weekly humor columns in America. Marc has been delighting his readers with his wit and incredibly manly outlook on life since 2008. His writing has been compared (unfairly) to that of world-class humorists such as Scott Adams, Erma Bombeck, and the venerable Dave Barry, and if any of them were alive today, they would surely contest the comparison. His columns have been published in newspapers and glossy magazines across the United States, and one dull magazine in Oregon.

You can email him at marcschmatjen@gmail
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/thesmidgepage
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/SmidgeTweets
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/Schmatjen
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/author/schmatjen
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Marc Schmatjen’s books

Average rating: 4.27 · 111 ratings · 11 reviews · 20 distinct works

	The Very Sneezy Garbage Truck by Marc Schmatjen (Goodreads Author), Karina Luong (Illustrator) 4.13 avg rating — 64 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Tree of Death, and Other Hilarious Stories (The Just a Smidge Anthology Book 1) 4.21 avg rating — 14 ratings — published 2012 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Sycamore Detective Agency - Case Number One: Bonnie and Clyde 4.40 avg rating — 10 ratings — published 2014 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	My Giraffe Makes Me Laugh by Marc Schmatjen (Goodreads Author), Karina Luong (Illustrator) 4.33 avg rating — 6 ratings — published 2010 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Sycamore Detective Agency - Case Number Two: Charlie Barton's Gold 4.25 avg rating — 4 ratings — published 2015 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Sycamore Detective Agency - Case Number Three: The Big Gun Mine it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 3 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	My Baboon is in a Balloon by Marc Schmatjen (Goodreads Author), Karina Luong (Illustrations) it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 3 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Sycamore Detective Agency: Case Number One - Bonnie and Clyde it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 2 ratings — published 2014	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Once Upon a Time in Kindergarten - Volume I: The Collaborative Fairy Tales of the Ruhkala Elementary Kindergartners - The 2013-14 School Year it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating — published 2015	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Once Upon a Time at Leataata Floyd Elementary - Volume I: The Collaborative Fairy Tales of the Leataata Floyd Elementary School Students - The 2015-16 School Year it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Marc Schmatjen's Blog

Just a Smidge has moved to Substack!

After 16+ years and 777 weekly humor posts, we have made a major move. We have abandoned our old, antiquatedBlogspot home here and moved uptown to hang out with the cool kids over at Substack.

Check out our new place at https://smidgeajust.substack.com

Enter your email address and hit Subscribe - Your Wednesday Just a Smidge column will always be free!

Substack is a free service, and that's h

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Marc Schmatjen wrote a new blog post Know Your Place On February 4th I received the following emailfrom everyone’s favorite energy company, PG&E, titled PGE BillAdjustment. Dear Valued Customer, We are Read more of this blog post »
Mar 02, 2025 02:37AM · like

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“Men are far more likely to clean things with spit than women are.”
― Marc Schmatjen

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“Buy land, they're not making it anymore.”
― Mark Twain

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