Mark Teague Works a Crowd

By Kate Pavao, Children's Bookshelf -- Publishers Weekly, 4/3/2008

Writer and parent Kate Pavao attended Mark Teague’s recent Bay Area signing, and spoke with the author/illustrator.

Wow. Mark Teague attracts quite a crowd.

Mark Teague, illustrating Ike LaRue on his recent West Coast tour.

By the time my five-year-old daughter, Coco, and I arrive at Alameda, Calif.’s Books Inc. on a sunny Saturday morning—a few minutes before the event is set to start—there are about 75 kids, parents and other fans raring to find out about the latest installment in his Dear Mrs. LaRue series, LaRue for Mayor: Letters from the Campaign Trail (Scholastic Press, Mar.). The store manager has to go rustle up some more chairs for us.

Teague seems unfazed when he walks out to so many eager faces and quickly reveals that he is a pro at handling the masses. Instead of reading the whole book, he outlines the story of his canine protagonist’s candidacy, pointing out the places sure to get the kids giggling, such as when the campaign crew puts an endorsement sticker on a cat. He then shows them how to sketch Ike La Rue, including details like the heart-shaped pendent he always wears around his red collar. This makes Coco shout out in delight, “It looks just like him!”

If the sheer number of bodies were a strong indicator of Teague’s popularity, the length of his Q&A session with the audience sealed the deal. These kids had some serious questions—as did their parents—all of which Teague answered good-naturedly. One child wanted to know how to become an illustrator (“Practice, practice, practice!”), while another asked why he doesn’t write about cats.

The Alameda event was just one stop in a mini-tour of Teague’s native California. That night he was scheduled to speak and showcase his illustration technique at the annual Northern California Children’s Booksellers’ Association’s Otter Awards Banquet. After signing Coco’s book, which included a drawing of a little Ike icon, he spoke about his fans, his first young adult novel, and what’s next for Ike.

PW: You’ve published a book about an election during an election year. Can the candidates learn anything from Ike?

The author’s daughter, Coco, with her signed copy of LaRue for Mayor.

Teague: I don’t think you want to take advice from Ike. I actually wrote the story maybe three years ago. It was Scholastic’s decision to time it for the election year. I’m glad—I think it’s a good tie-in. When I wrote the book, I was just sort of casting around for a new way to go with the series, and this idea just sprung forward. This character always seemed to have political qualities, maybe not in the very best sense.

PW: I was surprised to hear so many adults ask questions. Is that pretty typical for you?

Teague: The Saturday event is a special thing, because that’s when parents come down with their kids. And I appreciate their participation. A picture book, especially if your kids are on to it, you might read it 50 or 100 times. So you really start to know these things. I know that as a parent. I have strong opinions about a lot of the picture books my kids have brought home.

PW: You told the crowd you also wrote a young adult novel, which will come out in about a year and a half. What’s that one about?

Teague: It’s kind of science fiction-fantasy and it’s just over the top. It’s flying saucers and all sorts of craziness. I had a long-term sort of vague ambition to write a novel. And this came largely from the fact that my oldest daughter is now almost 13, and I’ve been reading a lot more young adult stuff with her and seeing what she likes. There’s just great stuff in that range. She gravitates very much towards fantasy and I do too.

PW: Will it have illustrations?

Teague: I am just starting on the illustrations, so I am not sure how extensive they will be, but I think there will be some. For me, I’ve always illustrated after writing. I don’t even think about the illustrations until the text is nailed down.

PW: And can we expect more Ike?

Teague: There’s going to be at least one more, because it’s already written. That’s a summer vacation theme—Ike and the cats all end up in the car together, traveling cross-country. That just seemed to have great dramatic potential right there.

PW: Now I have to ask the question my daughter was too shy to ask: You have two dogs. Are they anything like Ike?

Teague: I inserted one of my dogs into this book in a big way—the book is actually dedicated to Butch. I always had these great big dogs, and for some reason we got this little Boston terrier. This is the first lap dog I ever had. [He points out a few illustrations in the book, including one that shows the dogs running from a butcher shop, Ike with links of sausage in his mouth, a smiling Boston Terrier just behind.] Butch ends up being Ike’s henchman in this story.

PW: I notice that you use a lot of big words—for example “lurid.” Why do you choose to do that?

Teague: I am the youngest of seven kids. Some of my brothers and sisters are quite a bit older, so they were teenagers when I was a little kid. My whole experience growing up was to have conversation flying slightly over my head. I see no harm in that, and actually a lot of good. You reach for that level, and that’s how you learn your vocabulary. With my books, the themes are always gentle enough for the children, and if something’s a little sophisticated, the worst that can happen is that they’ll learn something.