In Marc Brown's most recent artistic endeavor, there is not an aardvark in sight. But there are plentyof other animals in evidence—indeed, a rollicking zoo-full. And these are creatures who, quite impressively, become hooked on reading as well as writing. Penned by Judy Sierra and illustrated by Brown, Wild About Bookstells of a librarian who gets lost and drives her bookmobile into the zoo, where she settles into a chair and opens a book: "By reading aloud from the good Dr. Seuss,/ She quickly attracted a mink and a moose,/ A wombat, an oryx, a lemur, a lynx,/ Eight elephant calves, and a family of skinks." Knopf will publish the book this month with a lion-sized 100,000-copy first printing.
The inspiration for the book, Sierra explained, was a summer reading poster she spied at a library that showed wild animals holding books. "I thought, 'What a great idea for a picture book,' " she recalled. "For several years, all I had was the idea and the title, but then it came to me in a flash: the bookmobile, the zoo and the super librarian who gets all the animals reading. I was excited about the idea because of the connection to libraries—and also because I could imagine all sorts of pairings of animals and books." The match-ups, indeed, are quite inventive: "Giraffes wanted tall books and crickets craved small books,/ While geckos could only read stick-to-the-wall books."
After completing the manuscript, Sierra sent it to Janet Schulman at Random House. "When I wrote this story," the author said, "I was probably fantasizing that the year was 1952, not 2002, and that Dr. Seuss would illustrate it, since writing picture books requires an unbridled imagination. I knew that Janet was Dr. Seuss's last editor, and that she would find the perfect illustrator. I was thrilled when she reported that Marc Brown had agreed to illustrate it. I knew he'd bring a lot of humor to the book, plus a sensitivity to children's taste in art."
Brown read the manuscript in the summer of 2002, during Schulman's annual visit to his home on Martha's Vineyard. "Before leaving for a walk to the beach, Janet dropped the manuscript in my lap, saying that this was something she wanted me to read," he recounted. "I did, and was overwhelmed at how wonderful it was. It was such a fun way to introduce kids to the joy of reading. I showed it to my wife and said, 'I have to illustrate this, don't I?' And she said, 'yes.' "
This occurred at what Brown calls "a magical point in my life, because my son Tolon has been working with me and taking a load off of my creative efforts with the Arthur television series.
I was in a position that I could now do something I wanted to do for me. I wanted to go back to where I was when I first started creating books, when I approached books in a more painterly way. By the time I began creating the art for this book, I had the knowledge I'd gained over 25 years about what kids like and what works."
Brown explained that when he graduated from art school, having trained primarily as a painter, "I had a notion of doing picture books that were satisfying to me artistically, but I didn't have a clue as to what children liked." Having children of his own gave him an instant education on that front. And Dr. Seuss—to whom Sierra and he affectionately dedicate this book—also helped him find his métier. "I read books and told stories to my children at bedtime, and they taught me a lot about the value of humor in picture books and how humor can be an important educational tool. It was reading so many children's books—especially those by Dr. Seuss—that helped me give myself permission to have more fun with my books."
And that new creative spirit gave birth to Arthur, star of Brown's very first book, Arthur's Nose, published in 1976. Brown observed that he had no intention of launching a series with his debut book: "I saw this as astory and I was delighted to have it published. The day it was published, a limousine arrived at my door and the driver delivered a bottle of champagne and a note from my editor, Emilie McLeod, saying congratulations on the first of many wonderful books. She taught me so much while we were working on that first book. She encouraged me to concentrate on the emotions of the characters and to strip away the painterly approach I'd learned in art school."
Creating the art for his first non-Arthur book in 10 years, Brown confided, "was a bit like learning a new language. For so many years with Arthur I'd been thinking in a linear way. With the art for those books, I define everything in line and then fill in colors. Here I went back to putting color next to color to define the form rather than outline it. It is a very different way of thinking for me, and it took me a while to get used to it. At first I was very timid about how I was using color and both my wife and my daughter told me that I could be a lot more assertive with the color. I realized they were right, and I went back and repainted the first half of the book." He calls Wild About Books "the most exciting book I've ever worked on," and the most fun. "This has opened up a lot of other ideas for me," he said, "and I consider it a turning point in my career."
Though there is no specific project yet on the drawing board, both Sierra and Brown said they hope to collaborate on another book. Meanwhile, Brown has more Arthur books in the pipeline, as well as books starring the bespectacled aardvark's buddy Buster, who will star in the new Postcards from Bustertelevision program, scheduled to debut on PBS Kids' weekday lineup in October. As executive producer for this show, executive creative producer for the Arthur TV series, monitor of Arthur licensing and—of course—creator of the ongoing line of books starring Arthur and pals—Brown is tickled at the prospect of taking a break from what he calls "all of these full-time jobs" to promote Wild About Booksthis fall. He will embark on a tour to eight cities, including San Francisco, where the California-based Sierra will join him.
"This book will allow me to reconnect with all of my friends in the bookselling and library communities," said Brown, adding, "For years, I've felt as though I've been a prisoner of Arthur." But this ersatz complaint is delivered good-naturedly; clearly, he has been a willing captive. And his latest book gives him a chance to be captivated by—and wild about—an additional crew of feisty characters.
