Interviews

Meet Arthur's Talented Creator

Arthur, the lovable aardvark, has been around for almost 25 years. The star of dozens of bestselling books and an Emmy award-winning, No. 1-rated children's TV show on PBS, he's adored by kids -- and adults -- everywhere. More than just a funny, fabulous storybook character, Arthur promotes reading, writing, and creativity in kids. But he wouldn't exist without the hard work and devotion of his talented creator, Marc Brown. Jamie Levine of Barnes & Noble.com recently spoke to Marc Brown about his life, his work, and his latest Arthur Adventure, Arthur's Underwear.

Barnes & Noble.com: When you were a child, did you always know you'd be an artist of some sort when you grew up?

Marc Brown: Always? I don't know about that. But I do remember doing a drawing in second grade, using a silver crayon to make stars on some blue construction paper, and I think that was the first recollection I have where I really liked what I was doing and I was happy with what was happening. But it wasn't until I was in junior high school that I noticed that my Grandma Thora (who appears in the Arthur books as one of the characters) was keeping all of the artwork I had given her over the years in her bottom dresser drawer. And that was a really important thing for me to see: That this artwork had some value. And I kind of looked at it differently from then on.

bn.com: I've read that Arthur was born from a bedtime story you told to your son. How did that story become the Arthur we all know?

MB: This happened at a time in my life when I had just lost my teaching job -- the college where I was teaching closed -- and I was wondering what I was going to do to make a living. I had a wonderful art teacher in junior high and high school who said, "If you want to be successful, do what you love to do." I remember, for the first time in my life, having a feeling after I had told this bedtime story to my son and drawn him a little picture of what Arthur looked like, that I really loved that. And I remember trying to figure out how I was going to make a living out of it. I was working with a textbook publisher on a freelance basis, and I started asking some of the editors where to go if I had a story for a publisher, and they sent me to the Atlantic Monthly Press, which was later absorbed by Little, Brown and Company. I brought in a rough dummy of the book Arthur's Nose to an editor by the name of Emily McCloud and she said, "I like it but it needs a lot of work." And she was so right! I was using three paragraphs to do what one well-crafted sentence should do, and I learned so much from her.

It's funny, people often ask me, "How many books did you have rejected before the first one was published?" and I kind of went in reverse. I had the first one published -- and then a lot of others rejected.

bn.com: Are you surprised by how enormously popular Arthur has become?

MB: My sister is a kindergarten teacher, and she just said to me the other day, "My friends are always coming up to me and saying, 'What do you think about your brother? Isn't it amazing?'" I think I'm a little bit too close to what's going on because I'm so focused on working on new shows and new books, that I don't have a perception of what Arthur's doing out there, really.

bn.com: Well, let me tell you -- you're huge!

MB: Arthur is. I'm just his agent.

bn.com: One of the reasons I think Arthur is so popular is that you're so good at capturing the thoughts and feelings of real children in your characters' words and actions. How are you able to do that?

MB: My first reaction is that I remember when my first son was born, and as he started to take in the world during his first few years, I was so in awe of that childhood sense of wonder that I tried to tap into that, too. I made a promise to myself that I didn't want to lose touch with that and wind up back in that "adultist" world that we live in -- where we lose touch with how children see the world. I believe that through my kids I tried to get back there a little bit. But I'm not sure that's the sole reason. I think I just trained myself to be a good observer and a good listener to kids and to focus in on what issues are important to them.

bn.com: I noticed that the dedication in Arthur's Underwear is "For all the kids who insisted on an underwear book." What's the story behind this?

MB: I spent about 15 years visiting schools and libraries around the country, and I really miss it. It's something I just physically don't have time to do anymore because of all the TV and books. But when I made these visits, kids and I would talk about different things Arthur should do or different subjects to write about. And underwear, every time you mention it in elementary school, it just gets the biggest laughs; it's hysterical! For years I was wondering how to work that into a book -- and it finally happened. Hopefully, kids will like it. I had an opening of an art exhibit here in Martha's Vineyard recently, and when I told kids what the new Arthur book was, they just all started giggling. I'm very excited to see what happens with it.

bn.com: Tell us about your work on the Arthur TV show.

MB: The TV show wasn't going to happen unless PBS/WGBH allowed me to have control over all the elements. At the time, I was very happy with what was happening with the books and didn't really feel like I needed television rights. The thing that seduced me about television was the fact that WGBH had an agenda that was near and dear to my heart -- and that was to take television, which is a really powerful medium, and use it to make kids want to read more. That's how they hooked me in. I said, "OK, I'm with you, but you guys have to let me pick the animators and the voices and the music..." and they let me do it! I really wanted to do it as well as it could be done and not just sign my rights away and take the money and go home. Because I've seen a lot of projects be ruined because that initial vision is gone -- the people working on it just don't care as much.

bn.com: Arthur's been around for almost 25 years. Do you see an end in sight to your work with him?

MB: It's kind of like a runaway freight train at the moment -- and I'm holding onto the caboose. It's a wonderful ride, so I'm staying on it for now. I still enjoy writing and illustrating books about Arthur. I love going to my studio and working on the books. And I really love working on the television show. And you never know what's going to happen. Like right now I'm working on a live stage show, going to auditions and rehearsals, and working with costume and set designers and musicians who are writing songs -- that's been incredibly fun. It's all different facets of Arthur -- and different media that are sort of coming up as an opportunity now. These are things I dreamed about for years, and now it's like all those 25 years-worth of dreams are happening within a very concentrated period of time. And it's a lot of fun. But I guess I won't be unhappy to have things slow down in the future. They can't stay white-hot forever.

bn.com: What advice do you have for kids who say they want to be writers or illustrators?

MB: Well, I think that you can't ever read enough. I think that reading as much as you can gives you an opportunity to hear all different kinds of writers' voices -- and it's your education, really. To be a writer is to read. And for illustrators, it's the same thing. You have to practice. It's like playing basketball or playing the piano -- the more you do it, the more facile you become. So keep a sketchbook and draw your family, draw your pets, draw your friends, draw anything you can. Just keep at it. Learn to build those muscles.