Feb. 1, 2008 – Unlike the main character in the book, D.W. the Picky Eater, part of author/illustrator Marc Brown’s, Arthur Adventure Series, Hanna Lawrence is not hard to please.

“I’ll eat anything… except cooked onions,” said the first-grade student after a special presentation and reading by the author’s sister, Kim Brown.

Brown delighted the audience of first graders by revealing that she was the inspiration for the character D.W., (short for Dora Winifred) Arthur’s precocious, independent and dramatic little sister in the highly successful series.

“I like the books because they are so funny,” said student David Nicolella.

Brown described how the Arthur series evolved when her brother was telling a bedtime story to his son more than 25 years ago about an aardvark named Arthur, which soon became the basis for the book Arthur’s Nose. Since then, Brown has written and illustrated more than 30 Arthur and D.W. books. In 1996, Arthur premiered as an animated television program based on the book series, which is ongoing today.

She also shared a family photo album chronicling their family’s history. Many of her brother’s interests and family members appear in his children’s books in one form or another.

“Marc gets his best ideas from things that happen in his own life,” said Brown. For example, she said he made Arthur’s dad a caterer because he loves to cook.

Students asked questions about the author/illustrator’s personal preferences, educational background and details about his books, and then they had the opportunity to draw Arthur following step-by-step instructions.

“It was fun,” said Zachary Lawrence, who likes to read Brown’s books. “We got to draw Arthur.”

At the end of the presentation, Brown stamped the students drawings with Arthur or D.W. caricatures. She also signed them with D.W.’s autograph.

“I thought it was awesome,” said Kaelyn DiCocco. “I liked drawing Arthur and getting stamps from D.W.”

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