Mike Thaler facts for kids

Michael Charles Thaler (born October 8, 1936 – died March 23, 2024), known as Mike Thaler, was an American author and artist who created many popular children's books. He wrote and illustrated over 210 books between 1961 and 2017, making him a favorite for young readers.

Early Life and Education

Mike Thaler was born in Los Angeles, California. His parents were Benjamin and Jean Thaler. He finished Fairfax High School in 1955. After high school, he studied English and Art at the University of California at Los Angeles. He also attended the Art Center College of Design.

Mike Thaler's Writing Career

Mike Thaler started his career in November 1960. He wrote and drew a Christmas cartoon called The Fallen Star. It was published in a magazine called Harper's Bazaar. An editor named Ursula Nordstrom saw his cartoon. She asked him to write a children's book.

His first book, Magic Boy, was published in 1961. This was just the beginning! Nordstrom decided to publish three more of his books in 1962 and 1963. These books were The Clown's Smile, Penny Pencil, and Moon Boy. Mike Thaler illustrated all of these early books himself.

Working with Other Artists

For 28 years, from 1961 to 1989, Mike Thaler published 76 books. Many of these were riddle books that he illustrated himself. Because of this, the Arizona Republic newspaper called him "America's Riddle King."

In 1981, an editor named Jean Feiwel had a great idea. She paired Mike Thaler with an artist named Jared Lee. Jared Lee illustrated Thaler's book, A Hippopotamus Ate the Teacher. This team worked so well together that they created over 100 books!

Mike Thaler also worked with many other talented illustrators. Some of these books include:

• My Little Friend (1971), illustrated by Arnie Levin
• The Staff (1971), illustrated by Joseph Schindelman
• How Far Will A Rubber Band Stretch? (1974), illustrated by Jerry Joyner
• What Can A Hippopotamus Be? (1975), illustrated by Robert Grossman
• Owly (1982), illustrated by David Wieser
• Hippo Lemonade (1986), illustrated by Maxie Chambliss (part of a 3-book series)
• Pack 109 (1988), illustrated by Normand Chartier
• Never Mail an Elephant (1994), illustrated by Jerry Smath

Television Adventures

Between 1971 and 1973, Mike Thaler had an exciting idea for TV. He met with Edith Zornow, who directed animation for The Electric Company on PBS. He wanted to create a new show called "The Adventures of Letterman".

This show started in the second season of The Electric Company. It featured a flying superhero called Letterman. He wore a varsity sweater and a football helmet. Letterman's job was to stop the Spell Binder, an evil magician. The Spell Binder would cause trouble by changing or removing letters to make new words. For example, he might change HEELS into WHEELS! Famous actors like Zero Mostel, Joan Rivers, and Gene Wilder provided voices for the Letterman segments. Mike Thaler wrote the scripts for the first two seasons, which included twenty episodes.

In 1989, Mike Thaler was chosen to help launch the Jell-O Reading Rocket program. This program was sponsored by General Foods USA and Jell-O Desserts. For one year, he visited elementary schools across the country as one of the authors for this reading program.

=The Black Lagoon Series

Front cover of "The Teacher from the Black Lagoon"

One of Mike Thaler's most famous works is The Black Lagoon series. The first book, The Teacher From the Black Lagoon, was published in 1989. It was written by Thaler and illustrated by Jared Lee.

This series became very popular! Between 1989 and 2007, 20 more picture books were added to The Black Lagoon series. Three of these books even won International Reading Children's Choice Awards. These award-winning titles were The Cafeteria Lady (1992), The Music Teacher (2001), and The Custodian (2002).

The Black Lagoon picture book series includes:

• Black Lagoon #01 - The Teacher from the Black Lagoon (1989)
• Black Lagoon #02 - The Principal from the Black Lagoon (1993)
• Black Lagoon #03 - The Gym Teacher from the Black Lagoon (1994)
• Black Lagoon #04 - The School Nurse from the Black Lagoon (1995)
• Black Lagoon #05 - The Librarian from the Black Lagoon (1997)
• Black Lagoon #06 - The Cafeteria Lady from the Black Lagoon (1998)
• Black Lagoon #07 - The School Bus Driver from the Black Lagoon (1999)
• Black Lagoon #08 - The Music Teacher from the Black Lagoon (2000)
• Black Lagoon #09 - The Custodian from the Black Lagoon (2001)
• Black Lagoon #10 - The Class from the Black Lagoon (2002)
• Black Lagoon #11 - The Art Teacher from the Black Lagoon (2003)
• Black Lagoon #12 - The Class Pet from the Black Lagoon (2003)
• Black Lagoon #13 - The Bully from the Black Lagoon (2004)
• Black Lagoon #14 - The New Kid from the Black Lagoon (2004)
• Black Lagoon #15 - The Dentist from the Black Lagoon (2005)
• Black Lagoon #16 - The Substitute Teacher from the Black Lagoon (2005)
• Black Lagoon #17 - The Book Fair from the Black Lagoon (2006)
• Black Lagoon #18 - The School Secretary from the Black Lagoon (2006)
• Black Lagoon #19 - The Computer Teacher from the Black Lagoon (2007)
• Black Lagoon #20 - The Vice Principal from the Black Lagoon (2007)
• Black Lagoon 25th Anniversary Special - The School from the Black Lagoon (2014)

In 2002, Scholastic released the first Black Lagoon Chapter book, The Class Trip from the Black Lagoon. This series also grew very large, with 36 books published between 2002 and 2017.

The Black Lagoon Adventures chapter book series includes:

• Black Lagoon Adventures #01 - The Class Trip from the Black Lagoon (2002)
• Black Lagoon Adventures #02 - The Talent Show from the Black Lagoon (2003)
• Black Lagoon Adventures #03 - The Class Election from the Black Lagoon (2003)
• Black Lagoon Adventures #04 - The Science Fair from the Black Lagoon (2004)
• Black Lagoon Adventures #05 - The Halloween Party from the Black Lagoon (2004)
• Black Lagoon Adventures #06 - The Field Day from the Black Lagoon (2005)
• Black Lagoon Adventures #07 - The School Carnival from the Black Lagoon (2005)
• Black Lagoon Adventures #08 - Valentine's Day from the Black Lagoon (2006)
• Black Lagoon Adventures #09 - The Christmas Party from the Black Lagoon (2006)
• Black Lagoon Adventures #10 - The Little League Team from the Black Lagoon (2007)
• Black Lagoon Adventures #11 - The Snow Day from the Black Lagoon (2008)
• Black Lagoon Adventures #12 - April Fools' Day from the Black Lagoon (2008)
• Black Lagoon Adventures #13 - Back-to-School Fright from the Black Lagoon (2008)
• Black Lagoon Adventures #14 - The New Year's Eve Sleepover from the Black Lagoon (2008)
• Black Lagoon Adventures #15 - The Spring Dance from the Black Lagoon (2009)
• Black Lagoon Adventures #16 - The Thanksgiving Day from the Black Lagoon (2009)
• Black Lagoon Adventures #17 - The Summer Vacation from the Black Lagoon (2010)
• Black Lagoon Adventures #18 - The Author Visit from the Black Lagoon (2010)
• Black Lagoon Adventures #19 - St. Patrick's Day from the Black Lagoon (2011)
• Black Lagoon Adventures #20 - The School Play from the Black Lagoon (2011)
• Black Lagoon Adventures #21 - The 100th Day of School from the Black Lagoon (2012)
• Black Lagoon Adventures #22 - The Class Picture Day from the Black Lagoon (2012)
• Black Lagoon Adventures #23 - Earth Day from the Black Lagoon (2012)
• Black Lagoon Adventures #24 - The Summer Camp from the Black Lagoon (2013)
• Black Lagoon Adventures #25 - Friday the 13th from the Black Lagoon (2013)
• Black Lagoon Adventures #26 - The Big Game from the Black Lagoon (2013)
• Black Lagoon Adventures #27 - The Amusement Park from the Black Lagoon (2014)
• Black Lagoon Adventures #28 - The Secret Santa from the Black Lagoon (2015)
• Black Lagoon Adventures #29 - Groundhog Day from the Black Lagoon (2015)
• Black Lagoon Adventures #30 - The Reading Challenge from the Black Lagoon (2015)
• Black Lagoon Adventures #31 - Trick or Treat from the Black Lagoon (2015)
• Black Lagoon Adventures #32 - The Pool Party from the Black Lagoon (2016)
• Black Lagoon Adventures #33 - The New Puppy from the Black Lagoon (2017)
• Black Lagoon Adventures #34 - The Spring Break from the Black Lagoon (2018)
• Black Lagoon Adventures #35 - The Slime from the Black Lagoon (2019)
• Black Lagoon Adventures #36 - The Magic Show from the Black Lagoon (2021)

Between 2015 and 2017, a special Black Lagoon series called Hubie Cool released three new books:

• Hubie Cool #1: Super Spy (2015)
• Hubie Cool #2: Vampire Hunter (2016)
• Hubie Cool #3: Super Hero (2017)

Other Book Series by Mike Thaler

Mike Thaler wrote several other fun book series:

• The Bully Brothers: This was a 4-book series published from 1993–1996. It won the IRA Children's Choice Award in 1995. Jared Lee illustrated all four books.
• Happily Ever After: In 1997, Thaler wrote this series of four "fractured fairy tales." These were funny versions of classic stories like Hanzel and Pretzel and Cinderella Bigfoot. Illustrated by Jared Lee, this series won the 1998 International Reading Association (IRA) Children's Choice award. USA Today even picked it as their #1 choice!
• Heaven and Mirth: Mike Thaler worked with illustrator Dennis Adler on this nine-book series. It was published from 2000–2001.
• Tales From the Back Pew: Zondervan Publishing released this 8-book series. It was written by Thaler and illustrated by Jared Lee. The series also included a riddle book and a joke book.
  • Tales from the Back Pew #1 - Preacher Creature Strikes on Sunday (2009)
  • Tales from the Back Pew #2 - Mission Trip Impossible (2009)
  • Tales from the Back Pew #3 - Easter Egg Haunt (2009)
  • Tales from the Back Pew #4 - Church Summer Cramp (2009)
  • Tales from the Back Pew #5 - Walking the Plank To The Baptism Tank (2009)
  • Tales from the Back Pew #6 - Vacation Bible Snooze (2010)
  • Tales from the Back Pew #7 - Church Harvest Mess-tival (2010)
  • Tales from the Back Pew #8 - The Three Wise Guys (2010)
  • In the Big Inning... Bible Riddles from the Back Pew (2010)
  • Bible Knock-Knock Jokes from the Back Pew (2010)

Animated Books and Recordings

Some of Mike Thaler's books were turned into animated videos by Weston Woods. These videos won awards from the American Library Association (ALA):

• 2004: The Teacher from the Black Lagoon
• 2008: The Librarian from the Black Lagoon
• 2009: The Gym Teacher from the Black Lagoon

Mike Thaler also created recordings of his riddles, jokes, and songs:

• The Riddle King Tells His Favorite Riddles, Jokes, Stories, and Songs with Steve Charney (1985)
• The Riddle King's Riddle Song: Scholastic Songs with Steve Charney (1987)
• Other cassette recordings include These Are the Questions, My Blanket Is the Sky, and Sing Me a Rainbow.

Books in Other Languages

Mike Thaler's books have been translated so children around the world can enjoy them!

• 1980 Japanese: Bochibochi ikoka (What Can a Hippopotamus be?)
• 1985 French: A Hippopotamus Ate the Teacher
• 1992 Japanese: Owly
• 1996 Spanish: Las Tres Cabras Grunonas (3 Grunting Goats)
• 2001 Spanish: Teacher from Black Lagoon: La Maestra del Pantano Negro
• 2003 Korean: Teacher from Black Lagoon
• 2015 Chinese: Owly
• 2016 Chinese: How Far Can a Rubber Band Stretch?
• 2017 Chinese: Set of Black Lagoon Chapter books #1 -23

Death

Mike Thaler passed away on March 23, 2024, at the age of 87.