A Camping Spree with Mr. Magee by Chris Van Dusen

“I relied on old photographs for reference. I could just imagine that TR would have found it quite amusing to be surrounded by so many animals, so that’s what I started sketching. I knew he was a great environmentalist, but I was surprised to learn that he and his children kept so many pets in the White House. “My contribution to Our White House: Looking In, Looking Out is the illustration of Teddy Roosevelt, who was one of my favorite presidents. Reproduced by permission of the publisher, Candlewick Press, Somerville, MA. Magee (Chronicle) (2003), If I Built a Car (Puffin) (2005) and I’ve had a ball illustrating Kate DiCamillo’s Mercy Watson series (Candlewick). Since then I’ve written and illustrated A Camping Spree with Mr. Magee(Chronicle), which was published in 2000. Magee and his little dog, Dee / Hopped in the car and drove down to the sea.” The combination of these two things eventually became my first book, Down to the Sea with Mr. At the same time, a refrain kept running through my head-“Mr.

I thought that would be a really funny and intriguing illustration. One day I started thinking about drawing a picture of a boat stuck high up in a tree. I was doing mostly editorial work and my illustrations appeared in magazines like Nickelodeon, Family Fun, and Disney Adventures. “For more than ten years I worked as a freelance illustrator specializing in art for kids. Eventually I started drawing cartoons and illustrations for the magazine and my career as an illustrator was born. First I was a waiter, and then I was offered a part-time job at a magazine for teenagers. It took me a while to figure out what I wanted to do. “After high school, I studied fine art at The University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth and graduated with a BFA in 1982. I had no idea back then that I’d end up writing and illustrating children’s books when I grew up. Seuss’ words and I was fascinated by the meticulous detail of Robert McCloskey’s illustrations. Seuss and Robert McCloskey were my heroes.

My specialty was aliens, robots, and monsters. Another would draw animals so realistic you’d swear they were breathing. One of my brothers would sketch intricate war scenes.

We didn’t have video games or computers to entertain us, so we drew instead.

As a child, my brothers and I would spend hours drawing pictures. Chris Van Dusen writes: “I was born in Portland, Maine, on St.

A Camping Spree with Mr. Magee by Chris Van Dusen