Bill Martin Jr.

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William Ivan Martin Jr. (March 20, 1916 – August 11, 2004) was an American educator, publishing executive, and author of more than 300 children's books, including The Sounds of Mystery, Chicka Boom Boom (co-authored with John Archambault), Brown Bear, What Do You See?, Panda Bear, What Do You See?, and Polar Bear What Do You See? In 1996, Bill Martin Jr. Award, the Kansas state award for the best children's picture book, was established in his honor.

Early life and education

Martin was born and raised in Hiawatha, Kansas. His father, a paperhanger, and his mother, a housewife, were among five brothers; he was one of five brothers. He had trouble reading before going to college at the Kansas State Teacher's College in Emporia, Kansas. He memorized poems that a teacher read aloud in class and was able to relate the words to what was on the page. He was intrigued with teaching other children to read by "having" words inside of themselves," he went on to earn a doctorate in early childhood education from Northwestern University in 1961.

Personal life and legacy

Martin married Betty Jean Bachmann in 1942, but they separated in 1978. He had a son (who died in 1963) and a daughter, Danielle.

Martin died in Commerce, Texas, at the age of eighty-eight.

In his honor, a library on the campus of Texas A&M University–Commerce is named in his name and contains all of his books and some artifacts. Bill and Bernard Martin Children's Library in Hiawatha, Kansas, was named in honor of Bill and his brother, Bernard, who is best known as a Midwest wildlife painter and printmaker.

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Career

Martin taught journalism, drama, and English at high schools in Newton and St. John, Kansas, after graduating with a bachelor's degree. During World War II, he served in the Army Air Force as a newspaper editor and wrote his first book, The Little Squeegy Bug, which was published in 1945 as William Ivan Martin with illustrations by his brother Bernard Martin. Eleanor Roosevelt praised the book in her syndicated newspaper column, "My Day," and it eventually sold 1 million copies. He wrote ten more books with his brother and by the time of his death, he had published more than 300 children's books, but he still worked with a carefully chosen illustrator. Until the words sounded right, he liked to collaborate and make many revisions. Martin became the principal of Crow Island Elementary School in Winnetka, Illinois, and then moved to New York City, where he was editor in chief of the school division during the 1960s and established innovative reading programs.

In 1972, he became a full-time writer. He revived his publishing career after meeting John Archambault at UC Riverside in 1983. They went on to collaborate on more than a dozen award-winning books, including Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Boom and Barn Dance! Both Reading Rainbow featured picks were illustrated by Ted Rand, and Knots on a Counting Rope. "The Ghost-Eye Tree," the artist's first joint work, received an IRA Children's Choice award and has been in print for almost 30 years. He co-wrote several books with Michael Sampson, whom he first encountered at a reading conference in Tucson, Arizona, in 1978. Martin moved from New York to Texas in 1992 to build a house beside Sampson on 26 acres (110,000 m2) along the banks of the South Sulphur River. Martin named the land "Woodfrost" in honor of Robert Frost and Frost's poetry about the woods. Sampson and Martin published daily for the next 12 years, with awards such as I Pledge Allegiance (illustrated by Chris Raschka) and Chicka, Chicka, 3, 3, 3, 3 (illustrated by Lois Ehlert). Sampson and Schuster published Bill Martin Jr. Big Book of Poetry in November 2008, four years since Martin's death. Martin and Sampson's other books, including Kitty Cat, Kitty Cat, Are You Waking Up (2011), Listen to Our World (2016), and Spunky Little Monkey (2017), are still available. Armadillo Antics came out in 2022.

Martin was also an educator and with Sampson, he held annual workshops for educators titled Pathways to Literacy, which in turn produced over 50,000 teachers at 30 centers around the country. He was one of the first children's book authors to sell his books by touring schools and bookstores. He read aloud to the children at these performances, many with instruments and dancing. He believed instilling an interest in children and assisting them in recalling new words by rhythm and repetition. Sampson said, "Poetry allowed him to be a reader" if he wanted to read it." Bill loved his ears as a writer. The most important thing was how his writing sounded. Poetry was his mentor. It influenced and guided him during his time as a writer in the 1950s, The Storyteller, a regional television show, and later produced audiotapes of his books.

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