Bill Martin, Jr.

Bill Martin, Jr. wrote his first book because his brother who was an artist wanted to illustrate it. They published many books together.

He says that reading was hard for him growing up and he didn't like it. But he had a teacher that read to his class every day and he loved stories. Then another teacher many years later introduced him to poetry and that changed everything.

Now Mr. Martin's most famous books celebrate this love of poetry. They are filled with rhyme and rhythm. Words that make you chant and jump and clap and smile. He believes that language and reading should be celebrated.

In the 1980s he teamed up with John Archimbault to write several books about children growing up in different places in the United States. Even these books read like poetry. Most of all, they touch the heart.

I have met Mr. Martin twice. He does workshops for teachers to help them understand how to teach reading with poetry,songs and active learning. You can tell from his books that he likes kids. But I was very happy to find out that he likes teachers too. He told me so. You should tell your teacher sometime.

Here is a site that celebrates songs and poetry for kids.

Try writing a song. What makes your heart sing? Write it down on paper and record it on a tape recorder or your computer.

Bill Martin and Eric Carle made brown bears famous. In Phoenix we are proud of our new Spectacled Bears. (It's hard to get bears to move to Phoenix.) This is the "Forest of Uco" online exhibit and it is fun to take the tours which come complete with guide.

Here are books by Bill Martin, Jr.


The site features Bill Martin's life as an author. It is written for adults but has lots of neat lessons for the young author. Perhaps you can try reading it or have an adult read it to you.