Gerit Kopietz and Joerg Sommer (both born 1963) have been married since 1991 and have four children, Cedric (15), Ylva (13), Celin (11), and Tanea (8). The Kopietz-Sommer family live on the waterfront off a smart little sea in southern Germany. 

Gerit Kopietz and Joerg Sommer are an unusually prolific "couple of writers". So far their activity has brought forth almost 160 titles with a total of over 3.000.000 copies printed. Their books are published in 27 different languages/countries. The two writers work as a team. In earlier years they used to publish mostly parental guides and professional books for teachers, but since 1997 they have specialized almost exclusively on fiction and non-fiction for children and youths. Both of them test not only their ideas but also the finished manuscripts "on the living object". At the same time they enjoy experimenting and are always in search of new, exciting ways of telling stories, and of unconventional projects. Their interactive mystery series Z.A.P. is a prominent example of this. It received unusually wide acclaim in the media.

Their Most Important Books at a Glance

Non-Fiction for Adults

Troubles with the Kids? 300 Practical Tips for Parents.
A Refreshingly Practical Guide to Raising Children.

OXMOX OX MOLLOX. When Kids Play Indians.
The Bestseller. The buyers of 17 editions and over 150,000 copies can’t be all wrong.

Crazy Ideas. Clever Games for Between Times.
An unconventional book of games for Kindergartens and Elementary Schools.

Non-Fiction for Children and Teenagers

CASH! How to Handle Money Successfully.
The ultimate financial guide for adolescents. Everything you’ll want to know about the making, the managing, the amassing, and the squandering of money.

How Oldies Can Turn Into Goldies.
An amusing educational guide for youths who find, parents need educating too.This is the ultimate education reference book for all teenagers to learn how to handle their parents in respect to, e.g. how to get more pocket money? How to confess a horrible report? How to manage to stay out longer on Saturday evenings?

Fit for the Road.
When are you allowed to cross a street? Is it difficult to ride a bus by yourself? What are the different street signs about? The final examination will check the knowledge about the most important rules and makes it easy and entertaining to learn!

Let’s Play Indians.
A pocket-book for little squaws and warriors. Packed with games, do-it-yourself practical ideas, riddles, and recipes.

Turbo Games for In- and Outdoors.
A collection of games for children over 8. More than 120 fast moving games that can be played anytime anywhere without needing special materials.

Books for Older Kids and Teens (10 years and older)

MEGAPARK
is a sunny island in the Mediterranean Sea and at the same time the biggest amusement park in Europe. Up to 100,000 people a day visit the little paradise with its spectacular sites such as the Wild West city of Silverado, the medieval castle of Camelot, Pirates Bay with genuine pirates or futuristic Alphaworld. A bunch of employees look after the visitors, many of them living on the island for the whole year – together with their children, who attend an international school.
Michi, Sheila and Fabian are three of those children. Obviously their everyday life can get quite exciting. However, there are even more exciting days – days, when crimes are committed and the three of them are eager to find out about them …
MEGAPARK is..
A new detective series with a look behind the scenes of a high-tech adventure park
A credible and subtlety composed setting
Psychologically well thought-out characters who are likely to mature
Cases directly relevant to social and political issues
Convincing structure of plot and realistic solving of crimes
A speedy and thrilling series
Written in brief, journalistic style
The cases dealt with …
…are topical and unusual, have social or political backgrounds such as hostile takeover, poisoned animal food, yellow press journalism, espionage, international crime etc.
…are thoroughly investigated
… are solved in a realistic manner: The kids contribute to the solution - within the bounds of credibility and together with the often unpopular park rangers.
…have a political background. However, it doesn’t dominate the plot. Three volumes have appeared in spring 2002:

Virus X
One morning in Megapark a tame monkey attacks a visitor and rips his trousers. Shortly afterwards a flock of parrots follows a school class around half the island, two ponies destroy the tyres of a coach into which a group of pensioners has narrowly escaped, and Michi stands alone in front of a seemingly wild pony. He manages to survive the encounter and hears from the park rangers, who have rushed to help him, that this must be an epidemic. Domesticated animals suddenly become murderous beasts. Is that an unknown virus? Or does it come from rotten animal food? Soon Michi, Sheila and Fabian are on a hot trail and more than one person falls under suspicion. In the end they find the solution: Megapark is to be sold. The future owners have poisoned the animal food in the futile hope of a public scandal which will then force down the property price.
The Reporter's Plan
One day a group of well-known TV journalists and their equipment disappear completely from the grounds of Megapark. What has happened? Have they drowned? Or have they left without a message? Are they hiding somewhere? The park rangers are desperately searching for them when they hear really bad news: Sheila who was expected to show Sebastian, a visitor to megapark, the Lake Emerald and the Pirates’ Caves is nowhere to be seen, too. Michi and Fabian suppose that a crime has happened. They do some detailed detective work and, indeed, they discover a crime – but one that was committed more than 50 years ago. At that time a valuable Egyptian treasure was buried on the bottom of the artificially laid-out Lake Emerald. . In order to get hold of it some members the of group of journalists tend to stop at nothing… 
The Japanese Trap
A new pupil comes into the class of Michi, Sheila and Fabian. Takamura Yoshi is Japanese and seems to be pretty reserved. On further inquiry, Michi finds out that Yoshi’s parents do not work on Megapark. So why does Yoshi go to school on the island? And why is he being watched round the clock by two blokes. Has he been up to something? Or are there any plans for a crime? Unable to restrain his curiosity, Michi sets out with Mats to uncover the secret. He learns that Yoshi’s mother is the UNO ambassador responsible for the battle being waged against organizedcrime. She had her son brought to Megapark for security reasons. But then Yoshi, Michi and Mats suddenly disappear – kidnapped by international criminals blackmailing Yoshi’s mother…

Z.A.P. The Interactive Mystery Series.
The best selling series, translated into many languages, that established the authors’ international reputation. The interactive adventures can be steered and changed by the reader. It’s up to his or her imagination to decide, whether and how the protagonists will succeed in the end. Nine volumes have appeared so far:
The Mysterious Villa.
The Pursuit of the Turbo-Skates.
Save the Apes.
The Million Dollar Basketball.
The Forged One Hundred Dollar Bill.
The Elephant in the Internet.
The Pavement Cowboys.
The Blue Jungle.
The Frightful Ferrari.

Mira Morgenstern.
This mystery series centering on a little girl and her seven big brothers was an instantaneous success in the media. While reading these exciting stories, young readers meet world literature classics in a new guise - from "Romeo and Julia" to the "Hypochondriac". Here are the first four titles:
The Firebug.
A mysterious series of fire frightens the whole town. At each scene of crime incoherent letters are found signed by „The fire devils“. Who hides behind this name? A blackmailer? A screwball? An unknown sect? The police is groping in the dark. When Mira’s beloved dog Nestroy gets severly hurt at one of these attempts, the talented detective decides to put a stop to someone’s game. But she doesn’t know how unscrupulous these fire devils are. When they gain control of Mira it’s nearly too late ...
Fear is Black.
Valley of Fear.
The Voracious Car-Park.

Children’s Books (9 years or younger)

Charly Clever & Doctor Closewatch
The new children’s book series for readers from nine years on: original characters, witty dialogues, fast cuts, dynamic plots. Right from the start, Charly Clever and Doctor Closewatch are reaching sales records in the children’s books sector. Nine volumes have appeared so far.

The UFO in the School Yard.
What do you do when a real UFO lands in front of your feet and three alive and well aliens of a few inches height step out? Run away? No? Well, maybe you’ll wish you had...

McMorrister Investigates: In Hiding.
McMorrister is the coolest detective around. And he is the smallest. Measuring only 12cm from nose to tail tip, the little mouse doesn’t exactly have an easy life. But McMorrister makes up for his lack of size by being the one with the quickest snout – and the smartest ideas.

Apaches on Tulip Avenue.
Oliver sees a group of Apaches galloping through Tulip Street. Is this a dream or reality? Apart from his best friend Katja and grandpa Africa, everybody believes that he is crazy. But grandpa Africa gives him a helping hand to find out what's going on .

Chief Quick Paw.
Kids who watch too much TV lose the ability to tell the difference between movies and reality – and so they turn into nightmares for grown-ups. A fun picture-book with a serious message.

HMS Woolskin. His Majesty’s Sheep and the Pirate Wolves.
When wolves turn into pirates, and sheep into royal sailors, when puppies have to do slave labor in the caboose, when cruel pirate captains only take one bath a year but change their hats 47 times a day, when a terrible battle ensues about a shipload of royal sheep’s wool pullovers – then Gerit Kopietz and Jörg Sommer are at it again: Captain Dan Druff and his crew of fearless pirate wolves discover a small raft floating on the ocean and in the hope of being able to plunder some treasure, they pull on board a small bespectacled dog called Lupino Larry Loodle, known to most of his friends as Lupy. Lupy saves his own life by claiming to be an excellent potato peeler and saves the ship's cook's life by teaching him to read - most importantly new recipes, so he can cook new exciting meals - Captain Druff wants to throw his cook overboard for cooking terrible food.
One day Captain Druff opens fire on a vessel of the Royal Woolen-Ware Trading Company which is full to the brim with an invaluable treasure - woolen pullovers. Admiral John Lock and his crew of coiffed sheep fight a fierce battle, and lose. They are taken prisoner and it is decided that they will walk the plank. But before this is to take place, Captain Druff has a very nasty idea...