We’re proud to announce that Marc Brown, author and illustrator of the Arthur book series, will be our Alumni Achievement Awardee this year! Marc will be joining us at our National Ceremony at Carnegie Hall where he will accept the Award.
“It is an honor to receive this year’s Alumni Achievement Award from the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers. I vividly remember how important it was for me to be recognized in the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards as a junior high student in Erie, Pennsylvania because it was one of the very few validations I received as a developing artist—and it still profoundly affects me today.” —Marc Brown
Born in Erie, Pennsylvania, Marc Brown is best known as the author and illustrator of the popular Arthur book series. The first Arthur book, Arthur’s Nose, was published in 1976. Since then, Brown has written and illustrated more than thirty books featuring Arthur and his family and friends.
The Arthur book series has sold more than 65 million books in the United States alone. Books, apps, e-books, and television shows based on the Arthur character are enjoyed by children in more than 80 countries around the world. The books have won numerous awards, and have also been on The New York Times Best Seller list.
In 1994, WGBH and PBS approached Brown about the possibility of adapting the Arthur books to a television series. The objective of this new series would be to use the powerful mediums of animation and television to excite kids about reading. Arthur almost instantly became the most-watched children’s show on television. The series has won six Emmy Awards and received twenty-five Emmy nominations. Arthur also received the prestigious George Foster Peabody Award for Excellence in Broadcasting. Arthur is now the longest-running animated children’s television series in history.
Brown received a Scholastic Award for a hand-colored woodcut in 1963.