Calling Mr. Pickles

Michael Drake islike a house with many additions, with each new wing flowing openly into theoriginal floor plan. The Milwaukeean made his name in music, playing Latin jazzand upbeat fusion before latching on to what he calls “island music,” smoothlysyncopated with a Caribbean lilt. Inspired byhis grandchildren, Drake began writing humorous verses with the idea ofproducing illustrated children’s books. Lately, he juggles animated“performance readings” from those books with his ongoing musical career.Sometimes, the music and the kids’ verses meld into one.

“My persona when Iread from the books is Mr. Pickles,” says Drake, a man born to be on stageanystage. In part his enduring career in music is based on his personabledemeanor. He has always been determined to make everybody in his audiencehappy. Entertaining the toddlers was an easy step.

So far, Drake haspublished the first two volumes of his series, The Growing Books, along with a bilingual English-Spanish editionand an accompanying coloring book. A translation into French is in the works. Abeliever in giving back, Drake donates a portion of the proceeds to Children’sHospital.

“As a songwritersince the ’70s, I wrote my own words,” Drake says of the transition frommusician to children’s book author.

“I always wantedthe words to sound like the music,” he continues, highlighting the seamlessflow between his whimsical verses, such as “Dancing with Mr. Brussell Sprout”and “To Bee or Not to Bee,” and the colorful illustrations by Madison artist Kay Lum. “As our grandchildrencame up, the desire to write these things was overpowering. ‘No’ was not in myvocabulary! ‘Know’ was, but no ‘no’! I just had to do it!”

Drake will give a“performance reading” 1 p.m. Saturday, April 10, at the Betty Brinn Children’sMuseum. The following weekend will be especially busy for the irrepressibleDrake aka Mr. Pickles. He will juggle playing music at the Bob Kames FoundationJazz Festival, April 16-18 at the South Milwaukee PAC, with children’sentertainment at State Fair Park’sKIDSfest, April 17-18, where he will read at the Book Nook and perform an“Island Kids Show” at the World Music Stage.