The Great Brain is a series of children's books by American author John Dennis Fitzgerald (1906–1988). Set in the small town of Adenville, Utah, between 1896 and 1898, the stories are loosely based on Fitzgerald's childhood experiences. Chronicled by the first-person voice of John Dennis Fitzgerald, the stories mainly center on the escapades of John's mischievous older brother, Tom Dennis Fitzgerald, a.k.a. "The Great Brain". The Great Brain was made into a movie released in 1978, with the main character played by Jimmy Osmond. Mercer Mayer originally illustrated the books, except for 1995's The Great Brain Is Back (which was illustrated by Diane deGroat). Mayer did the original cover illustrations for the first seven books as well, but Carl Cassler re-did the cover illustrations for some of the reprints of the first seven books. Background Although John D. Fitzgerald was born in Price, Utah, several references in the stories suggest Adenville is located in Utah's "Dixie" in the southwestern corner of the state. A small village called Adenville briefly existed near Cedar City, about which little is known.<ref>{{cite book |author=Dr. Stephen L. Carr |title=The Historical Guide to Utah Ghost Towns |year=2009 |publisher=Western Epics}}</ref> The publisher's note in The Great Brain Is Back, published after the death of the author, recounts the story of the series' origin. Papa Married a Mormon and its sequel, Mama's Boarding House, were published in 1955 and 1958 respectively. Those books were set in Adenville, Utah, at the end of the 19th century. A third book was requested by the editor, E.L. Doctorow, but he changed jobs before the manuscript was completed. Fitzgerald submitted the new novel, which focused on the children of Adenville, to Doctorow at The Dial Press but by then family stories were out of favor with adult readers. The new editor for children's books offered to publish the novel if it were cut in half and eliminated some passages aimed at adults. The result was The Great Brain. Series titles Titles in order of chronological continuity include: The Great Brain (1967) More Adventures of the Great Brain (1969) Me and My Little Brain (1971) The Great Brain at the Academy (1972) The Great Brain Reforms (1973) The Return of the Great Brain (1974) The Great Brain Does It Again (1976) The Great Brain Is Back (Published in 1995 from loose notes after the author's death) Main characters Fitzgerald family The Fitzgerald family