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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212;Decades before a leprechaun danced his first jig in honor of Fighting Irish football, the University of Notre Dame had a different mascot.</p><p>A new generation of readers can meet that canine cheerleader &#8212; an Irish terrier named Mike &#8212; in a children&#8217;s book authored by four retired teachers from the Wilkes-Barre Area School District.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s been a very fun type of project,&#8221; said Mark Smith, who along with Daniel O&#8217;Brien, Glenn Davis and Tom Stapleton, wrote &#8220;The Next Notre Dame Mascot.&#8221;</p><p>The four authors, who call themselves &#8220;The Four Pops&#8221; will attend a book-signing event from 6 to 6:30 p.m. Aug. 21 in the Downtown Arts building on North Franklin Street in Wilkes-Barre, and they&#8217;ve been invited to another book-signing event at the Notre Dame bookstore on the weekend of Sept. 26, when they expect to be in South Bend, Indiana, to attend the football game against the University of Massachusetts.</p><p>&#8220;We&#8217;re ecstatic,&#8221; said Davis, who credits colleagues from the Wyoming Valley Wordsmiths writing group with encouraging him to start the project, which shows the retiring terrier encouraging the leprechaun to take over his old job.</p><p>The Four Pops published their book through Mascot Books of Herndon, Virginia, which explains on its website it &#8220;was founded in 2003 with a single title about a university mascot,&#8221; and has since published hundreds of books on many other topics.</p><p>When they sent the manuscript to Notre Dame for approval, Mascot Books told them to expect an answer in maybe five weeks, Davis said, but they had the approval within three days. That was a thrill, he said.</p><p>Notre Dame fans likely will appreciate the book&#8217;s attention to detail, including illustrations that show the &#8220;Touchdown Jesus&#8221; mural as well as a locker room sign that advises athletes to &#8220;play like a champion today.&#8221;</p><p>But it wasn&#8217;t written only for fans, Smith said. &#8220;We think the characters are lovable.&#8221;</p><p>Librarians from the Osterhout and West Pittston libraries advised them on the work, Davis said, as did his 10-year-old granddaughter, who observed that the dog in one sample illustration looked more like a bear.</p><p>&#8220;She said, he has to go on a diet; he&#8217;s too big,&#8221; Smith said. &#8220;We love that feedback, through the eyes of children.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Four co-authors believe &#8216;The Next Notre Dame Mascot&#8217; offers a pleasant reading experience to football fans and non-fans alike. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_mascotmike.jpg</photo0><caption0>Four co-authors believe &#8216;The Next Notre Dame Mascot&#8217; offers a pleasant reading experience to football fans and non-fans alike. </caption0><photoCredit0>fourpops.com </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p><strong>By Mary Therese Biebel</strong></p><p>mbiebel@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p><strong>IF YOU GO</strong></p><p><strong>What:</strong> Book-signing for &#8216;The Next Notre Dame Mascot&#8217;</p><p><strong>When:</strong> 6 to 6:30 p.m. Aug. 21</p><p><strong>Where:</strong> Downtown Arts, 47 N. Franklin St., Wilkes-Barre</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Mary Therese Biebel at 570-991-6109 or on Twitter @BiebelMT</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Before the leprechaun, there was a terrier