Herba Hoota Hound Dog Bird. Try saying it fast. Herba Hoota Hound Dog Bird.

This was Mike Tate’s nickname growing up, one given to him by his uncle — an uncle who had a knack for nicknames: Rigglesnortz, Mergatroid, Snodgrass. But Tate was Herba Hoota Hound Dog Bird and it’s a name that’s stuck with him through the years. Now he’s using it to send a message to children everywhere.

Tate and his wife Jacquie have created the story of Herba the hound dog and Hoota the eagle, an unlikely pair who team up for a worthy cause: anti-bullying. They have super powers (they fly and can talk to humans). They have a great message (teaching children how to not be a bully and how to deal with bullies). And this fall, the couple has toured through their home state of Texas, and now Beaufort County spreading the word in schools throughout.

Just this week, the Tates spent Monday and Tuesday at John Small Elementary School, Wednesday at S.W. Snowden Elementary School, and Thursday at Northeast Elementary and Bath Elementary, reading their two books. Tomorrow from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m., they’ll be sharing Herba Hoota Hound Dog Bird’s story at “Tellebration,” the storytelling hour at the North Carolina Estuarium in Washington. The couple will also be autographing copies of the books starting at 12:30 p.m., then after their reading until 3:30 p.m.

Herba Hoota Hound Dog Bird’s story is a unique one: an unlikely meeting between two species; a strange collision that lands each as one half of an anti-bullying superhero, roles the Tate’s act out during their readings. The first lesson learned is cooperation; the next, how to handle bullying by Carl the Pit Bully and others; another is about how doing nice things for others is “way cool;” and the lessons keep on coming as the illustrated dynamic duo visits middle schools and helps children overcome bullying.

“Our whole goal in writing this is to prevent a child from becoming a bully and if they are being bulled — how to deal with it, how to cope with it,” said Jacquie Tate.

“When we first started this, there was a young girl in our town — 14 years old — and she jumped off a two-story building become she was being bullied.”

The Tates used his childhood nickname as a launching point. They also used Mike Tate’s childhood spent at his grandfather’s river cottage in Bath as the setting. But they used plenty of input from counselors, librarians and principals before they embarked on the story to create “teachable moments” within the text.

There are two versions of Herba Hoota Hound Dog Bird’s story: one appropriate for children from kindergarten through second grade; the next, fleshed out more, for third through fifth graders.

“We’re trying to teach kids a little more self-reliance, self-resiliency,” said Jacquie Tate.

The Tates say the reaction to their story by all ages has been rewarding and its clear they enjoy what they’re doing: telling stories and giving children a life lesson through their fictional characters.

“Every opportunity we can find, to teach or read to children, we do it,” said Jacquie Tate.

The Tates have been married for 46 years and have five grandchildren, a fact that’s at least partially responsible for their new literary career. Previously, Mike Tate was an FBI agent for 13 years then moved into the private sector to head security for a major oil company. They make their home in Frisco, Texas, but according to Jacquie Tate, her husband is a true North Carolinian.

“I always teasingly say, ‘He lives in Texas, but his heart is in North Carolina,’” Jacquie Tate laughed.

“That’s why the color of the book is Carolina blue,” Mike Tate added.

Regardless of physical address, that the Tates are sharing their anti-bullying message in eastern North Carolina is, in the words of Herba Hoota Hound Dog Bird, “way cool.”

Saturday’s “Tellebration” program at the Estuarium is open to the public and there is a $3 program fee. For more information about Herba Hoota Hound Dog Bird, visit www.herbahoota.com or Herba Hoota Hound Dog Bird’s Facebook page.