Tom Swift and his Chest of Secrets; Or, Tracing the Stolen Inventions (Tom Swift #28)

Howard Roger Garis (April 25, 1873 – November 6, 1962) was an American author, best known for a series of books, published under his own name, that featured the character of Uncle Wiggily Longears, an engaging elderly rabbit. Garis and his wife were possibly the most prolific children's authors of the early 20th century. Many of his books were illustrated by Lansing Campbell.

The first Uncle Wiggily story appeared January 10, 1910 in the Newark News. For almost four decades the newspaper published an Uncle Wiggily story by Garis every day except Sunday, and the series was eventually nationally syndicated. By the time Garis retired from the newspaper in 1947, he had written more than 15,000 Uncle Wiggily stories.

By virtue of his accessible characters and engaging plots, Garis was one of the most influential children's authors of his day. Many of his books, especially the Uncle Wiggily books, are still widely read and are readily available over the internet. Milton Bradley produced an Uncle Wiggily board game in 1967 and again in 1988. The game debuted much earlier though and remained popular until the 1970s.

Garis wrote many books for the Stratemeyer Syndicate under various pseudonyms. As Victor Appleton, he wrote about the enterprising Tom Swift; as Laura Lee Hope, he is generally credited with writing volumes 4–28 and 41 of the Bobbsey Twins; as Clarence Young, the Motor Boys series; as Lester Chadwick, the Baseball Joe series; and as Marion Davidson, a number of books including several featuring the Camp Fire Girls. The couple's children also wrote for Stratemeyer. After Edward Stratemeyer's death in May 1930, his two daughters, Harriet Stratemeyer Adams (1892–1982) and Edna C. Squier (1895–1974), ran the company, with the result that Garis stopped writing for the Syndicate in 1933 after several disagreements.--Wikipedia.