Bedtime story takes on own life

Decades later, the author still tries to help kids.
By SAMANTHA CRITCHELL
ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK -- Arthur the aardvark is turning 30, but creator Marc Brown says his beloved, bespectacled, slightly nerdy character will always be 8 -- "and he'll never have to take the SATs."
Brown is as shocked as anyone that Arthur and those around him -- including pesky little sister D.W., best friend and rabbit Buster and algebra teacher Mr. Ratburn -- are favorites of a new generation, including his own two granddaughters.
When Brown first put the bedtime story he told his oldest son onto paper, he never expected it would grow into more than 100 books and become an Emmy-winning animated series that ranks No. 1 with PBS early elementary school viewers.
The newest book, "D.W.'s Guide to Perfect Manners" (Little, Brown), is to be published in May, and 20 new episodes of the TV show are prepared each year. In August, a CGI animation version of Arthur is slated to make his debut in the Lion's Gate DVD "Arthur's Missing Pal."
"I thought I'd move on to other books. I never expected more than one book about Arthur. Before I knew it, my son outgrew picture books and I had to make the decision whether to stick with picture books or should I go on to chapter books for him. I could've done 'A Day at Hormone High.' But I'd grown fond of Arthur and the other characters. All the characters have become closer and closer to me," says Brown, who describes himself as a little bit Arthur, a little bit Arthur's dad Mr. Reed and a little bit everyone else in Elwood City.
He chose an aardvark as the star for two reasons: Cute, cuddly bears and bunnies had already been done, and the first story was about a boy who wasn't entirely happy with himself. He especially didn't like his nose. What better animal to complain about a nose than an aardvark? Brown wonders aloud during a recent telephone interview from his Hingham, Mass., home.
"Arthur feels like every kid. He's accessible, he's not exceptional. He can't always get what he wants, he has friend problems, teacher problems. He feels real, and kids can identify with him. He's right with the kids navigating the mud puddles of life."
Brown adds: "No character is the good guy or bad guy. I'm always looking for the good in people and I think there is good in all people. Sometimes it's hidden more in some people than others but it's there."
As Brown grew more comfortable in Arthur's skin, he took on even meatier issues than grouchy teachers and the playground's social hierarchy. An episode of "Postcards from Buster," a TV spinoff of "Arthur," featured a lesbian couple, prompting criticism from federal Education Secretary Margaret Spellings. And censorship of children's books was the theme of an "Arthur" episode that featured a J.K. Rowlingesque author leading the charge.
"I get to tackle so many issues. I get to delve into issues I might have shied away from before. The older I get the more brazen I've become -- and the older you get, the more people listen," he says.
"I want to spend my time doing books that are helpful to kids and families, with or without Arthur."
Hence Brown's recent collaboration with Rosemary Wells, creator of the "Max and Ruby" book series, on a book due to be published next spring by Little, Brown called "The Gulps Go Green." It addresses childhood obesity.
"I'm watching a generation of kids who probably won't outlive their own parents because of this. School food, inactivity, media. Kids sit and watch TV all day, they aren't active. It's a real big problem in this country," he says. "It's a health problem and will be a huge financial problem."
Making it work
Brown says he tried to make the topic palatable by featuring chubby bunnies instead of people, which likely would've turned off the readers -- parents and children -- who most need to be educated about it.
Paying so much attention to healthy eating and exercise in his drawings, Brown lost 20 pounds.
This collaboration doesn't spell the end of Arthur, whom Brown says he could draw with his eyes closed. He does plan, though, to cut back on the number of new Arthur books. But there are still plenty more ideas for the TV show, he adds, and he'd like to explore developing a TV show around a series of dinosaur books he writes and illustrates with his wife, Laurie Krasny Brown.
The evolution of his TV projects has taken his thinking full circle. At first Brown had no interest in turning Arthur and the gang into animated characters.
Eventually, though, he realized that putting something good for kids on TV might replace something he perceived as bad for kids. This was also the philosophy of one of Brown's mentors and heroes: Fred Rogers, aka Mr. Rogers.
"He (Fred) said he started in TV because he hated it. He wanted to do something to make it better. Right now there's a little more energy being spent in the design of pajamas than into children's programming. I want to fix that," Brown says.
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