Children’s book author and illustrator Chris Van Dusen of Camden at the new exhibit based on his work, at Maine Maritime Museum in Bath. Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Portland Press Herald 

Chris Van Dusen is used to having his work seen, though it’s usually in the picture books he writes and illustrates. Sometimes it’s in the form of drawings he brings to the schools and libraries he speaks at.

But the Camden author and illustrator had never seen his gentle green lake monster from “Hattie & Hudson” take the form of a 12-foot-long foam model. He’s also never before walked into the pilothouse of a 24-foot-long re-creation of the title vessel from “The Circus Ship.”

Van Dusen has gotten to see his characters and settings come to life in ways he’d never imagined, at a new exhibit at the Maine Maritime Museum in Bath. “Upon That Isle in Maine: The Story & Works of Chris Van Dusen” opened on Feb. 8 and runs through March 29, 2026.

“Each time I’ve seen it, it just kind of blows me away,”  said Van Dusen, 64. “I thought they just wanted to show some of my pictures, and then I came down and saw everything they’ve done.”

The museum’s staff wanted to build an exhibit focusing on Van Dusen’s maritime-themed books as a way to help highlight how the Maine coast is viewed and how it’s portrayed in books and popular culture, said Chris Timm, the executive director. Van Dusen is among the Maine artists who have helped bring the wonder and beauty of the Maine coast to children all over the world, along with Robert McCloskey, Barbara Cooney and others, Timm said.

“It’s always important for us to show what people think of the Maine coast, and why. We’ve had all these amazing artists and authors, creating so many iconic children’s stories, and in the last 25 years Chris has really been leading the charge with that,” said Timm.

Hudson the lake monster pops out of a wall, behind Mr. Magee’s boat, part of a new exhibit at Maine Maritime Museum in Bath. Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Portland Press Herald

The exhibit focuses on four of Van Dusen’s books: “Down to the Sea with Mr. Magee” (2000), “The Circus Ship” (2009), “Hattie & Hudson” (2017) and “Big Truck, Little Island” (2022). People entering the exhibit are greeted by a wall covered with re-creations of many of Van Dusen’s original drawings for his books, including a very early sketch of Mr. Magee that bears little resemblance to the book version.

IN THE STUDIO AND ABOARD THE BOATS

Just inside the entrance is a re-creation of Van Dusen’s home studio, with art supplies, a video of Van Dusen explaining how he works, sketches and toys he uses as models while drawing. There’s a big toy truck, for example, that he used as the model for the title vehicle in “Big Truck, Little Island.”

That book is about an incident on Vinalhaven in 2009, when a truck carrying wind turbine equipment slipped off the pavement, blocking summertime traffic on the islands’ only north-south road. But instead of just sitting there, fuming about the appointments or ferries they were going to miss, the islanders started swapping cars. People heading north took cars stuck north of the truck, and visa versa.

The third area of the exhibit area opens up on the giant foam model of Hudson, not looking monstrous at all. In the book, young Hattie paddles her canoe to the middle of the lake and starts singing, which lures Hudson to the surface. While the townsfolk are deathly afraid of the gentle giant, Hattie and he become friends.

Just below Hudson’s gaze in the exhibit is a life-size replica of Mr. Magee’s boat, with an opening on the side so even the smallest kids can run in, steer the boat and imagine they’re on the water. This was the first book Van Dusen wrote and illustrated. It follows a man and his small dog as they head out on the water for a picnic and a day of relaxation, and find themselves given an exciting ride by a friendly whale.

Throughout the exhibit there is, indeed, art by Van Dusen on the wall, with information about his process and about the Maine coast. In the re-created studio area, there’s a cabinet that contains writing and drawings that help illustrate the making of each book. There are also videos and audio elements throughout, so people can see and hear Van Dusen.

“We intentionally wanted a mix of elements. It’s not just a children’s exhibit, or an exhibit about Chris’s art,” said Timm. “Parents and kids are reading these books together, so it’s a shared experience.”

A re-creation of the studio of author-illustrator Chris Van Dusen at the new exhibit at Maine Maritime Museum. Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Portland Press Herald

The last area of the exhibit includes a focus on “The Circus Ship,” with a 24-foot-long replica of the ship in the book, complete with an elevated pilothouse that people can climb into. Also in this area is an impressive Lego model of the ship in the book, by Waldoboro Lego artist Colby Adolphsen.

“The Circus Ship” is loosely based on the sinking of the Royal Tar, a steamboat carrying passengers and circus animals that burst into flames off Vinalhaven in 1836. Most of the animals died, though some people said a few managed to swim to nearby islands. In Van Dusen’s story, the animals make their way onto the island after the wreck, and eventually live happily with the townsfolk.

One wall of the exhibit has a panoramic view of the island, with all the animals hiding throughout the village, so they can avoid going back to the circus and stay with the friendly island folk. Over the years, kids and parents reading the book try hard to find the animals hidden behind clotheslines, in streams, in the bushes, or other spots around town.

Near the end of the exhibit is a desk, where people can write a note to Van Dusen or draw him a picture, and then drop it into a nearby mailbox. On the day after the exhibit opened, the mailbox was already crammed full of notes and pictures. One was from a 20-year-old budding children’s author who thanked Van Dusen for being an inspiration.

“That really shows the kind of impact he’s had, and that’s really one of the goals of this exhibit,” said Luke Gates-Milardo, exhibit designer at the museum.

Original sketches by Chris Van Dusen cover the entrance to the exhibit. Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Portland Press Herald

MAINE INSPIRATIONS

Van Dusen was born in Maine and spent his early childhood in Raymond, before his family moved to central Massachusetts. But he came back to his grandparents’ house on Panther Pond in Raymond often. He remembers being inspired early on by Maine children’s authors. His very favorite book growing up – and still one of his favorites – is “One Morning in Maine” by McCloskey.

“I remember my mom reading that to me and I would just get lost in the illustrations, the amount of detail and the sense of space and place,” said Van Dusen. “I remember wanting to live in those pages. I wanted to live in that world, it was just so magical.”

Van Dusen was also a fan of McCloskey’s “Burt Dow, Deep-Water Man.” There’s a scene in “Down to the  Sea with Mr. Magee” that pays homage to Burt Dow, Van Dusen said, with Mr. Magee waving to whales, as Burt Dow does.

Van Dusen studied art at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth, worked as an assistant art director at a now-defunct magazine for teens based in Massachusetts, and took a job as an artist at a Midcoast greeting card company around 1985. The company later moved to New Jersey, but Van Dusen and his wife, Lori, decided to stay in Camden.

Chris Van Dusen at the entrance to the new exhibit of his work at Maine Maritime Museum. Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Portland Press Herald

Van Dusen did illustrations and cartoons, including in national kids’ magazines and newspapers like The New York Times and Wall Street Journal, before starting to think about children’s books. One day, he says, he happened to get a strange image in his head, of a man and his dog in a boat that was stuck in a treetop. How did the man get there, he wondered?

That image became the basis of his first children’s book, “Down to the Sea with Mr. Magee,” released in 2000. Van Dusen has written and illustrated 12 books of his own, and done illustrations for 18 books by other writers.

Other books of his include “A Camping Spree with Mr. Magee” and “Learning to Ski with Mr. Magee.” He’s also written a series of “If I Built” books in which the child/narrator lets his imagination run wild: “If I Built a Car,” “If I Built a House” and “If I Built a School.” “If I Built a Car” won the 2006 E.B. White Read-Aloud Award presented by the Association of Booksellers for Children.

Van Dusen says he likes that the exhibit based on his work has hands-on things for kids but also explains the process, so they can get an idea of how the books they like to read get made.

“That’s something I try to talk about, too, when I visit schools, how much work goes into it, refining the sketches, the editing,” said Van Dusen. “I think they made this fun, while also helping people learn about how the books are created.”