Chris Van Dusen writes I was born in Portland, Maine, on St Patrick s Day, 1960 As a child, my brothers and I would spend hours drawing pictures We didn t have video games or computers to entertain us, so we drew instead One of my brothers would sketch intricate war scenes Another would draw animals so realistic you d swear they were breathing My specialty was aliens, robots, and monsters Dr Seuss and Robert McCloskey were my heroes I loved the rhythm of Dr Seuss words and I was fascinated by the meticulous detail of Robert McCloskey s illustrations I had no idea back then that I d end up writing and illustrating children s books when I grew up After high school, I studied fine art at The University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth and graduated with a BFA in 1982 It took me a while to figure out what I wanted to do First I was a waiter, and then I was offered a part time job at a magazine for teenagers Eventually I started drawing cartoons and illustrations for the magazine and my career as an illustrator was born For than ten years I worked as a freelance illustrator specializing in art for kids I was doing mostly editorial work and my illustrations appeared in magazines like Nickelodeon, Family Fun, and Disney Adventures One day I started thinking about drawing a picture of a boat stuck high up in a tree I thought that would be a really funny and intriguing illustration At the same time, a refrain kept running through my head Mr 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 Magee Chronicle , which was published in 2000 Since then I ve written and illustrated A Camping Spree with Mr Magee Chronicle 2003 , If I Built a Car Puffin 2005 and I ve had a ball illustrating Kate DiCamillo s Mercy Watson series Candlewick.