Why Kids Love Arthur The Aardvark

Marc Brown Joins Our Club And Reads From 'D.W.'s Guide to Preschool'

(CBS)  For the past 26 years, kids have grown up reading about the adventures of Arthur the aardvark, his pesky sister D.W., and his friends. For The Early Readers Club, creator Marc Brown reads from "D.W.'s Guide to Preschool."

The creator of one of the most popular characters in children's literature - Arthur the aardvark - joins The Early Readers Club on Friday.

Marc Brown wrote and illustrated the first Arthur book 26 years ago. He now has 115 books and an Emmy-award-winning TV series under his belt, and he's still busy creating new stories about Arthur and his friends.

His newest book, "D.W.'s Guide to Preschool," has been in stores for two weeks - and it's already on the bestseller list.

It all began with a request from his son who wanted a bedtime story about an unusual animal. Brown told him about an aardvark named Arthur who hated his long nose. That story eventually became Marc's first book, "Arthur's Nose."

All the characters in the stories are based on real people in Brown's life. He freely admits that his three sisters inspired the antics of annoying little D.W. Arthur's best friend Buster is modeled after Brown's best friend from elementary school. The list of comparisons goes on and on. Brown actually credits these parallels with his success.

Arthur continues to appeal to young readers, Brown says, because the characters and their dilemmas feel so real to kids. It's easy for kids to get involved in a storyline they have experienced themselves.

Early story lines reflected issues that Brown's own three children were facing in their lives. So now that his kids are grown, where does he get his ideas?

"I eavesdrop a lot," he says. "The most interesting and funniest things always happen in real life."

His latest book, "D.W.'s Guide to Preschool,” almost wrote itself. "It was unlike any other book I had written," Brown says. "I really tapped into (D.W's) voice."

In preparation for the book, Brown says he spent lots of time in his sister's kindergarten class.

"I wanted to help demystify what a day is like in preschool," he explains. "It can be kind of scary for a kid."

The following is an excerpt from his book:

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Welcome to my preschool! I'm D.W.

The first thing we do is say good-bye to our parents. Some kids are sad, but I'm not. I love preschool! Besides, the parents come back when we're finished. It's no big deal.

We always start the day with hellos. I say hello to everybody, even our class pet, Speedy. He's a gerbil. Once, he got loose and Ms. Morgan screamed when she found him in her purse.

Ms. Morgan is our teacher. She fixes our boo-boos and gives us hugs. She smiles a lot. She's really nice.

Don't worry. We have bathroom breaks whenever we need them. Once, Dennis wet his pants. I pretended I didn't notice because we're learning to be polite.

During free play we have blocks, a sand table, puzzles, tools, a play kitchen, and a telephone, but you can't really call people on it. We also learn how to share. Sometimes the Tibble twins have trouble with sharing.

Circle time is so much fun! Ms. Morgan teaches us songs and games. Today we are learning "The Wheels on the Bus." I don't know why, because we can't take the bus until next year, when we're in kindergarten.

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Even though the Arthur franchise has expanded, Brown has remained intimately involved in every aspect. Right now, he's quite excited about his new TV project, a spin-off series called "Postcards from Buster." The innovative show, also slated to appear on PBS, will mix animation and live action. The show's goal is to teach kids about diversity.