Organized by National Center for Children’s Illustrated Literature (Abilene, TX) and sponsored at Joslyn Art Museum by Fran & Rich Juro.

Mark Teague is author/illustrator of the widely popular New York Times bestselling LaRue stories, which detail the real and imagined adventures of the lovable letter-writing dog, Ike LaRue. Sincerely, Mark Teague includes acrylic illustrations from the LaRue for Mayor: Letters from the Campaign Trail and LaRue Across America: Postcards from the Vacation, all in his colorful and comedic signature style. While Teague has illustrated over 40 books, and written stories for more than a dozen, he is perhaps best known for illustrating How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight?, written by Jane Yolen, with more than fourteen million copies in print. The exhibition includes illustrations from several books in the How Do Dinosaurs series, which juxtapose dinosaurs and humans and find humor in their everyday lives at school, home, and play. Also on view are illustrations from The Great Gracie Chase, by Cynthia Rylant, and these and other books written and illustrated by Teague: Funny Farm, Firehouse!, The Pirate Jamboree, The Three Little Pigs and the Somewhat Bad Wolf, and The Sky is Falling.

What's pictured: “Peg Leg Jones,” from The Pirate Jamboree, 2016, acrylic, © Mark Teague

Mark Teague grew up in San Diego, CA, graduated from the University of California Santa Cruz with a degree in American history (never having taken an art class), then moved to New York City. His first job was at a large Manhattan bookstore, where arranging window displays introduced him to the latest picture books for children. Inspired by the beautiful, full-color illustrations, Teague wrote and illustrated a story of his own about a boy who takes a magical subway ride from the city back to the countryside. In 1989, Scholastic published his story, The Trouble with the Johnsons. That same year, Publishers Weekly
featured Teague as one of eleven prominent new authors to watch.