Mark C. Fava launches children's book on character and leadership

Retired Navy Captain Mark C. Fava will release his first children's book, Andy the Admiral and the USS Shipshape, on Sept. 1, with a Charleston Library Society festival appearance set for Sept. 12. The book extends his leadership themes to ages 3-8 and adds a free lesson plan for parents, teachers and homeschool families.

Why it matters: - Mark C. Fava is turning 30 years of Navy leadership experience into an early-childhood book about character, teamwork and service. - The launch expands Fava's Shipshape Shipmates series beyond adult leadership readers and into a new audience of children ages 3-8. - The book also comes with a free six-week lesson plan, which gives families and educators a ready-made way to extend the lessons.

What happened: - Fava's first children's book, Andy the Admiral and the USS Shipshape, is set for publication on Sept. 1 by Mascot Books, an imprint of Amplify Publishing Group. - The book follows Andy and his shipmates aboard the fictional USS Shipshape as they learn that keeping a ship "shipshape" takes teamwork, integrity, kindness, respect, preparation, accountability and service to others. - Fava will be a featured author at the Charleston Library Society's second annual Children's Literary Festival, "Up, Up & Read!" on Sept. 12 at 164 King Street in downtown Charleston. - During the Sept. 10-12 festival, Fava will read from the book and sign copies.

The details: - Fava drew on his Navy career as a Naval Flight Officer and commanding officer to write the rhyming story. - The book uses Navy traditions and maritime adventure to teach leadership lessons that reach beyond military life. - Illustrator Agus Prajogo and Yohanes Bastian created the artwork. - The book includes authentic naval terminology, traditions and hidden "Easter eggs" for children and adults. - Andy the Admiral and the USS Shipshape received a Literary Titan Gold Book Award and an Honorable Mention in the Purple Dragonfly Book Awards before release. - The book will be available beginning Sept. 1, 2026, through Amazon, Barnes & Noble and booksellers nationwide. - Additional information and the free educational lesson plan are available at The Shipshape Shipmates.

Between the lines: - Fava is using the children's book format to move leadership themes earlier in life, rather than waiting until readers become managers, officers or CEOs. - The new book builds on Lessons from the Admiral: Naval Wisdom and Sea Stories for Leaders, which is in its third printing with nearly 10,000 copies in print. - That earlier book helped establish Fava as a leadership author and speaker, creating a platform for the children's series. - Fava said he originally wrote the book with his three daughters in mind, while he was serving in the Navy.

What's next: - The national release on Sept. 1 will be followed by Fava's Charleston festival appearance on Sept. 12. - The Shipshape Shipmates series is positioned as the next phase of Fava's publishing work. - Parents, teachers, librarians and homeschool families can use the lesson plan to continue the book's themes after reading.

The bottom line: - Fava is betting that Navy-tested lessons on leadership can resonate with preschool and early elementary readers as much as they do with adults.