Meet a Mentor
MARC BROWN

Author/Illustrator: The Arthur series
Birthday: November 25, 1946
Home: Hingham, Massachusetts

Marc Brown is most famous for creating the character of Arthur the aardvark. Arthur was born nearly 20 years ago when Marc began telling bedtime stories. Marc remembers, "One night our story was about an aardvark who hated his nose. The aardvark, of course, was Arthur. That bedtime story became Arthur's Nose, the first book in the Arthur adventure series." Today there are 18 Arthur books. If you look carefully at the pictures in all but one of them, you will find where Marc has hidden the names of his two sons, Tolon and Tucker. His daughter's name, Eliza, appears in all of the Arthur books published since 1986.

How did Marc come to create books? As a child in Pennsylvania, Marc spent weekends with his grandmother and great-grandmother. "They were wonderful storytellers," he says. "It was my job to supply the pictures."

These days, Marc has taken on the responsibility of drawing 50 more Arthur adventures --this time for TV! Next fall, Arthur and his pals will star in their own show. Says Marc, "I'm very excited to bring Arthur to kids who haven't met him yet!"

MARC BROWN'S ADVICE TO WRITERS:
"There are wonderful ideas for stories all around.
All you have to do is keep your eyes and ears open."

BOOKS BY MARC BROWN
Arthur's Baby, 1987
Arthur's Pet Business, 1990
Arthur Babysits, 1992

Author study adapted in part from Meet the Authors and Illustrators
by Deborah Kovacs and James Preller (Scholastic Professional Books, 1991)

Instructor Grade-Perfect Theme Club Reproducible  •  Permission Granted to Duplicate

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