A Tale of Collaborative Ingenuity

After 35 years and over 40 books, Suzanne Tate may finally be slowing down. The author of the Nature Series children’s books and a history series is 93; her mind is as quick and incisive as ever, her imagination unquestionably intact…but her eyes are failing her.

“It’s a severe handicap not to be able to read the printed word, because of my eyes right now,” she said, explaining that her eyesight will not be getting better. “This is called AMD, which they put it in all capital letters…age related macular degeneration.”

Tate and Outer Banks artist James Melvin are sitting at the kitchen table at her Manteo home recounting a friendship that began even before the first publishing of their series of over 40 books back in 1987, right up until now with more than 3.5 million copies sold. Having these two legends side-by-side, prompting them to reflect on their journey made for quite an inspiring afternoon.

“We’ve been friends for a long time,” Melvin says. Tate fills in the details, telling how when James first got to the Outer Banks from Fayetteville North Carolina, her company, Nags Head Art, was able to market his prints. “He was new to the area, and I had contacts that could help,” she recalls. “I was already selling prints of eight different artists.”

What cemented their friendship was the partnership they formed in creating the children’s book series and that takes them on a trip down memory lane. “I think you brought me a (crab) shell or something,” Melvin says. “I don’t remember that” Tate tells him.

“I think you’d written a piece for your grandchild,” he reminds her. And that triggers the story of how the Nature Series children’s books run all began. “I started reading children’s books to my grandson Scott when he was three,” she says. “And that really was the beginning of my thinking. ‘Why, I bet I could write a book like this…and maybe an even better one.’”

Grandson Scott, as it turned out, told her what was wrong with the books they were reading.

“Scott was bothered when…if I was reading a children’s book to him…and they would say, ‘The king said so and so.’ Well, they didn’t show a picture of the king at all,” she says. With the thought that she could write a better children’s book, Tate set to work and wrote about what she knew best—blue crabs.

Tate & Melvin’s Nature Series children’s book publishing spans 35 years, with over 40 titles and well above 3.5 million copies sold. Pictured: The first publishing, Crabby & Nabby from 1987 and Marshy Mermaid, which just came out this year.
Above: Courtesy of SuzanneTate.com; Book Covers Courtesy of MelvinsStudio.com

“We (she and husband Everett and sons) had been shedding crabs for 15 years,” she says. “That’s why I chose to write about crabs because I knew more about them than anything else.”

And so, Crabby & Nabby, A Tale of Two Blue Crabs was born.

Visually the book is not like the books that followed—only two colors, blue and red, were used. It was a financial decision, not an artistic one. “I think you decided to do that, two colors,” Melvin mentions. “Well, it was less expensive,” Tate explains.

In asking what drew Tate to use Melvin to illustrate that first book and then all the others, there is some discussion and then James mentions his time in Fayetteville. “I was drawing and painting in Fayetteville…some portraits,” he recalls. “I think that’s what drew her to my illustrating the book. She thought it would carry over …for the characters and the stories with the eyes and everything.”

Although unsure if there would be a second book, Tate wrote in Crabby & Nabby that it was the first of a series. There were never concrete plans for book number two, but… “The teachers…they found Crabby & Nabby when they were visiting the Outer Banks, and they began contacting me, asking where was number two?” Tate says.

Billy Bluefish was book number two, and that also was written directly from Tate’s experience.

“I went fishing with with…my husband,” Tate says. “And that was successful too for quite a while.” The book, however, is one of the titles that is no longer in print.

That was followed by Flossy Founder and Spunky Spot, which Melvin admits is his favorite. The story centers around a young spot being instructed by his adult spot teacher to say no to the tempting worm on a hook. “I just love that book. I love that story because the message in that book is timeless,” he says. The book will be going out of print—“I just hate that,” Melvin says, but as Tate explains, retail stores simply do not have room for all the titles.

As longtime creative collaborators, they have a system that they know has been successful, beginning with the respect they have for one another. “Part of the success of the relationship is that we work well together,” Tate says. “Some artists don’t do that,” James added.

For Tate, stories start with reading the book she is writing repeatedly. “When I’m doing a children’s book, I just read it so intensely every morning and every evening for probably six weeks,” she says. Then it goes to Melvin. “When the book is completed, I start to work. I usually allot myself about a week or two weeks,” he says.

There are certain format standards they have used since Crabby & Nabby was first published. Every page has a picture and perhaps just as importantly, “She won’t put more than four lines on the page,” Melvin says. And finally, there’s the ending. “That’s the most important,” Tate says.

It’s difficult to separate the writer from the artist in the books. The vocabulary and way Tate speaks to her audience is geared to a four-, five- or six-year-old. As important as the story is, Melvin’s drawings are stunning in their accuracy and use of color. After the two-color publication of Crabby & Nabby, all the books are in full color, but some seem to burst from the pages of the book. That is certainly the case with Merri-Lee Monarch that traces the journey of a monarch butterfly from egg to its epic journey to Mexico and back to the Outer Banks.

Tate & Melvin traveled together on an all-expense paid trip to the Galapagos Islands, contributing to the writing & illustrations of Nature Series children’s book, Teena Tortoise A Tale of a Little Giant.

Tate’s Nature Series as well as her History Series are notable for how factually accurate they are, and Tate, who has a degree in anthropology from the University of New Mexico, takes pride in the research she does. “I’m almost a fanatic it,” she says.

There is one exception to every book being fact based. Marshy Mermaid, her most recent work, tells the tale of a mermaid who helps Mikey Manatee survive. “I put off doing that book because I thought, ‘I write about real,’” she says. “But I figured out a really good way. The manatees are starving. So, I thought that Marshy Mermaid who lives in the marsh could help the manatees. That book just flowed out of me.”

Tate and Melvin have been recognized for some time by their peers for their work. But a significant spike in attention received in just the past few months signifies they have reached the pinnacle of their professions. Two separate awards were given recognizing the contributions they have made to children’s literature.

On Monday August 7th the Dare County Commissioners presented Tate & Melvin with Certificates of Appreciation for Best-Selling Children’s Series, noting “…incredible contributions to readers of all ages…” Perhaps even more prestigious, Tate and Melvin became members of the Order of the North Carolina Long Leaf Pine. The award is given to “persons who have made significant contributions to the state and their communities through their exemplary service and exceptional accomplishments.” The ceremony was on August 21 at Bethany Church in Wanchese. “It’s humbling,” Melvin said of the honors they have received.

Last year Tate published Crabby Lady Looks Back, a book unlike any other she has written. In a series of essays, she recounts a life journey that has taken her from a small family farm in Ohio to the Outer Banks. The life she recounts is one filled with wonder, joy and indescribable loss—her youngest son died in a car accident driving home from college. Yet through it all, there is a remarkable sense of resilience and hope. She ends her book on that note of hope, letting us know there are still stories for us to tell. “The answer, I believe, is another story yet to be told…” she wrote.

Author: Kip Tabb