Spike stars in children’s book

The cliche about expectations for college professors is publish or perish. But Michael Pringle, an associate professor of English at Gonzaga, has a new book coming out that probably won’t do much for his academic career. “Spike, The Gonzaga Bulldog” — a new children’s book written in rhyme — is more like a labor of love.

“It’s been a really nice break from academic writing,” said Pringle, who has published poetry and scholarship on early American literature.

The book was published by Mascot Books, a Virginia-based company that produces books about the mascots of colleges and pro sports teams. Typically, Mascot Books writes the books in-house, with stories and illustrations that place the school’s mascots at various points on campus.

But when GU’s textbook manager, Scott Franz, was approached about the possibility of doing a book, he wanted to have someone closer to home do the writing.

“I know Mike well enough to know that he exemplifies what it means to be a Zag,” Franz said in a GU news release. “Mike was very interested in the project and thought it would be fun to do in rhyme.”

Pringle seemed like a good choice for a lot of reasons — not the least of which is the fact that both he and his wife teach at Gonzaga. But he’s got other ties, as well.

“I’m an alumni. I went here in a previous millennium and my grandfather graduated from here in 1935,” he said. “I’ve always been fond of the institution.”

He wrote the book, which was illustrated by Brad Vinson, over the summer. In the story, Spike, the GU mascot, tells his son what he loves about the school and its values. While sports is a key factor in the publisher’s decision to produce a mascot book, the GU basketball team occupies just one page in the book, which also includes verses on the library, the classrooms and the chapel.

One passage reads:

“Classes, books, buildings and campus

“All make up GU

“But its heart is Gonzaga students

“And all the work they do.”

The story’s meter is based on rhyming iambic heptameter, a form of poetry used in other works intended to appeal to children.

“Dr. Seuss occasionally used that one,” Pringle said.

One important aspect of a GU education — the emphasis on community service — played into Pringle’s writing of the book, as well.

“I sort of saw it as service to the university,” he said. “I donated my time.”