Crikey! Famous mouse, moose go exploring in new book
Susan Nipp, the nationally recognized children's author of Wee Sing books and music, will begin a new book series, “Mudgy & Millie Adventures,” with illustrator Charles Reasoner. The new series will take the characters to different countries around the world as they travel in a colorful hot air balloon.
Courtesy photos On Sept. 13, 2008, Mudgy & Millie mania broke out at the Coeur d’Alene Library with the release of the first book featuring the famous moose and mouse. That’s author Susan Nipp front and center, antlered sculptor Terry Lee to the right and illustrator Charles Reasoner to Nipp’s left.
COEUR d’ALENE — Mudgy and Millie are on the move again.
Ten years after Coeur d’Alene’s favorite children’s book characters began a game of hide-and-seek in the heart of the Lake City, the pair will reach new heights as author Susan Nipp sends them on their first international trip in a new book.
Nipp, the nationally recognized children’s co-author of the Wee Sing books and music, begins a new book series, “Mudgy & Millie Adventures,” with illustrator Charles Reasoner. The author said that the new series will take her characters to different countries around the world as they travel in a colorful hot air balloon.
“It’s an opportunity for kids to learn about other places as Mudgy and Millie have adventures with whimsical animals unique to their country,” she said.
The first book in the adventure series takes the duo to Australia. From koalas to echidnas to emus, the diverse wildlife makes for humorous storytelling.
“I started with Australia because we have visited my Aussie cousin there several times and loved seeing some very unusual animals,” she said, adding that Reasoner, who illustrated the original “Mudgy & Millie,” is having a great time working on the project as he creates quirky new characters for kids to enjoy.
Like the first book, all of Nipp’s and Reasoner’s royalties from book sales and any related products will go directly to the Coeur d’Alene Public Library Foundation, for which Nipp is a board member.
“Chuck and I are such strong advocates for encouraging kids to read that we look forward to creating more titles,” Nipp said.
To make the new series more affordable, the books will be available in paperback for $8.95 but also in hardcover for $16.95. The Australia book is intended to be entertaining, but also a learning tool, Nipp said, so it will include a glossary of common Australian words and expressions. An online teachers’ guide and a new song are also being developed. The new book will be available for the public to purchase throughout the community on Sept. 8, when the 10th Birthday Party for Mudgy and Millie occurs.
Since its release in 2008, “Mudgy & Millie” has gone through six printings of 27,000 copies. Its publisher, Figpickels Toy Emporium in Coeur d’Alene, has just ordered the seventh printing. Nipp said that, to date, the book has raised about $95,000 for the Library Foundation.
The original inspiration for the book came from “Make Room for Ducklings,” by Robert McCloskey. The title characters of McCloskey’s book are immortalized in a bronze sculpture in the Boston Public Gardens.
Nipp thought it would be wonderful for Coeur d’Alene to have its own book with characters that could also be pieces of public art. In creating “Mudgy & Millie” she had multiple goals, she said, including support for the library, writing a book families could enjoy together, creating public art, and giving families a reason to enjoy outdoor activities together.
To those ends, Coeur d’Alene sculptor Terry Lee created five life-size Mudgy and Millie bronze statues based on Reasoner’s illustrations that are installed along the Mudgy and Millie Trail, a 2.5-mile route that extends from the base of Tubbs Hill near the Third Street boat ramp, to the library, to Sherman Avenue, through City Park, and ending at Independence Point. The bronzes and the trail were a community effort involving the Library Foundation, the Coeur d’Alene Arts Commission, the City Parks and Recreation Department, and numerous donors.
It all came together on Sept. 13, 2008, which was officially declared “Mudgy & Millie Day” in Idaho by Gov. Butch Otter, when the community-wide celebration saw the unveiling of the statues. While Nipp says nobody knows how old Mudgy and Millie are, their birthdays are celebrated at the library each September with a reading of the book, the singing of the “Mudgy & Millie Song,” a slideshow on the creation of the statues, and, of course, birthday cake supplied each year by the bakers at The Coeur d’Alene Resort. At this year’s tenth birthday party on Sept. 8, Charles Reasoner and sculptor Terry Lee will join Nipp at the celebration where the new book will be read and Mudgy will share in the singing of the new Australia song.
Mudgy and Millie are also the featured guests for the annual “Sing Along with Mudgy and Santa” at the library in December. Nipp has read the story and performed the song for countless groups of children and adults at schools, conventions, and at the library over the past 10 years.
Nipp isn’t saying where her beloved characters will travel next, but said, “I have some interesting places I want to travel so I can meet more fascinating animals!”
With the energy Mudgy and Millie have accumulated this past decade, we can expect they will be going strong for many years to come.