Mark I. West is a professor of English at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, where he teaches courses on children's and young adult literature. He also holds the title of Bonnie E. Cone Professor in Civic Engagement. He has written or edited sixteen books, the most recent of which is Shapers of American Childhood: Essays on Visionaries from L. Frank Baum to Dr. Spock to J. K. Rowling, which he co-edited with Kathy Merlock Jackson. His articles have appeared in various national publications, such as the New York Times Book Review, Publishers Weekly, Americana, and British Heritage, as well as many academic journals.

He has published several articles on Theodore Roosevelt including Theodore Roosevelt and the Golden Age of Children's Literature, which appeared in The Journal of American Culture, and Preserving a Presidential Persona: A Bibliophile President Created a Well-Traveled Library which appeared in New York Archives. He recently gave an invited lecture titled Theodore Roosevelt and the Makings of an Activist Reader as part of the Rites of Reading Lecture Series at the University of Michigan.