 
|
|||||
              
|
Millions of children enjoy marc brown's tales based on his erie chidhood Monday, March 09, 1998 By Karen MacPherson
Growing up in Erie, Marc Brown had an all-American childhood: He walked to school, he worried about grades, he dealt with pesky younger sisters, and he hung out with friends at the local soda parlor on weekends.
These days, millions of American children are familiar with Brown's Erie childhood, which serves as the inspiration for his best-selling "Arthur" books and the wildly-popular PBS show of the same name.
Arthur Read may be an 8-year-old, glasses-wearing aardvark, but he thinks, acts, and feels like Brown did as a child, and his world closely resembles Brown's childhood world. Arthur's house looks a lot like Brown's childhood house, his neighborhood - including the popular Sugarbowl soda parlor - is similiar to Brown's old neighborhood, and many of the "Arthur" characters are based on people Brown knew in Erie.
While most adults have only hazy memories of childhood, Brown, 50, vividly recalls his youthful days in Western Pennsylvania, first in Milcreek, an Erie suburb, and then in Erie itself. His recall of childhood experiences and emotions is nearly perfect, right down to the smell of the popcorn that his third-grade class in Lakewood Elementary School in Milcreek made one memorable day.
Brown now lives in Hingham, Mass., but his mother and one of his sisters still live in Erie, and there's no doubt that the Erie influence runs deep.
"I do talk about growing up in Erie a lot in the books," Brown said in a recent telephone interview. "So many of the characters now in my books are people who were part of my childhood."
For example, there's Mr. Ratburn, Arthur's tough-love third grade teacher, who's based on "the meanest algebra teacher ever," Brown laughed. Then there's the wise Grandma Thora, a tribute to Brown's real Grandma Thora, whose savings helped send him to the Cleveland Institute of Art after his parents balked at his choice of art as a career.
And there's D.W., Arthur's annoying little sister, who's a composite of Brown's three younger sisters and is, as Brown puts it, "triply lethal!" Baby Kate is based on Brown's youngest child Eliza, who's now 11 years old. As for the cautious, modest Arthur, Brown says that he's the spitting image of his own third-grade self, without the glasses.
There are now 24 stories in the core "Arthur" series, plus numerous other related volumes, including a series of D.W. books, and a series of chapter books. Before "Arthur" hit television, Brown had sold about 6 million "Arthur" books.
Since the fall of 1995, when the first "Arthur" shows aired, another 6 million books have been sold, causing Brown to marvel about the power of television. The TV series, which Brown closely oversees, is the top-rated children's show on PBS - beating "Barney" - and landing "Arthur" on the cover of TV Guide this week.
The "Arthur" series, which will begin a third season next fall, also has led to numerous spin-off products, including Arthur dolls, underwear, T-shirts, puzzles and computer games. A percentage of the profits is used to offset the production costs of the commercial-free "Arthur" series.
Brown, who retains a youthful enthusiasm for his work, revels in Arthur's popularity. Although the books and the television series are aimed at ages 5 through 8, children as young as 2 and as old as 12 write directly to Brown or leave messages on the Arthur Website (www.pbs.org/arthur).
Brown believes that kids love the "Arthur" books and TV show because they address the real-life challenges, problems and joys that children face. From being the last to lose the first baby tooth to waiting for a valentine from a favored classmate to having a first sleepover, Arthur's stories reflect the small but important adventures in the lives of real children.
Brown gets his best ideas from his own childhood, as well as from his children, sons Tolon, 24, Tucker, 21, and daughter Eliza.
"For some reason, I have been able to hold onto the kinds of things children think are important. Things that seem so minimal to adults can be of immense importance to children," Brown said.
Brown first made use of his childhood memories and feelings in telling bedtime stories to his own children, back in the 1970s. One night, Brown focused his story on an aardvark named Arthur, who was worried that his nose was too big, a dilemma mirroring a common childhood fear of not fitting in.
An aspiring children's book author at the time, Brown embellished the tale a bit, illustrated it and sent it off to publishers. To his great delight, Little, Brown & Co. accepted it right away and, in 1976, "Arthur's Nose" was published.
The book was successful, but it didn't provide a way to make much of a living. Brown's first royalty check for "Arthur's Nose" was $76, plus change.
At the time, however, Brown was out of work, having done short stints in many jobs, including working as a truck driver, soda jerk, actor, chicken farmer, short order cook, college professor and art director for a Pennsylvania television station. (Brown got fired from that job after proposing that the station's weather forecaster wear a fairy costume on a set with a swing and a wishing well.)
With nothing to lose, Brown kept plugging along with his children's books, publishing another "Arthur" story, "Arthur's Eyes" in 1979, and then another, "Arthur's Valentine," in 1980. Slowly, Brown built an audience of ardent "Arthur" fans, selling enough books that - combined with fees from school and library visits - he was finally able to live off his writing.
It was a relief for Brown, who had vowed as a child not to end up like his father, a stationmaster for the New York Central and later the Penn Central railroads.
"He hated going to work every day," Brown said. "His real passion was for architecture and art, the stuff he did in his own time. I always felt this sadness that he couldn't allow himself to follow what he really loved."
Brown was inspired in a positive way by his Grandma Thora, who saved all his early drawings, and by "a great art teacher" that he had from sixth through twelth grade.
"She instilled in me the idea that, to be successful, you have to do what you really love," Brown said.
Although the "Arthur" books have brought Brown fame and fortune, he's also written and/or illustrated numerous others. He illustrated the classic "Read Aloud Rhymes," a book edited by noted poet Jack Prelutsky, and he and his second wife, writer Laura Krasny Brown, have combined their talents on the "Dino Life Guides for Families," a series addressing childhood issues such as divorce.
The Brown's newest joint venture, "What's the Big Secret?" (Little Brown, $15.95) tackles the subject of sex for children ages 4 to 8, and has garnered rave reviews.
But Brown says he still has plenty of "Arthur" stories in him. He's currently working on an "Arthur" story in which Arthur falls asleep on a bus and wakes up in an unfamiliar part of town.
"I'm still enjoying doing the "Arthur" books," Brown said. "When I stop enjoying them, I'll stop doing them."
|
||||
