Jacqueline Briggs Martin (1945 - )

Genre: Children's Literature

Children's author Jackie Martin was born in Lewiston on 15 April 1945 and grew up in Turner, Maine, where her parents had a dairy farm. She now lives in the college town of Mt. Vernon, Iowa, with her husband, Rich. They summer in Maine, where she still has family living. She received her B.A. from Wellesley College (1966) and an M.A. in child development (1971) from the University of Minnesota. Her website has more info. There's also a 2005 profile of Martin online, which explores some of her books' inspirations, as does the 'sidelights' section of her entry in Famous Authors.

Books include:

• Bizzy Bones and Uncle Ezra (1984, illus. Stella Ormai)
• Bizzy Bones and Moosemouse (1986, illus. Stella Ormai)
• Bizzy Bones and the Lost Quilt (1988, illus. Stella Ormai)
• The Finest Horse in Town (1992/2003, illus. Susan Gaber)
• Good Times on Grandfather Mountain (1992, illus. Susan Gaber)
• Washing the Willow Tree Loon (1995, illus. Nancy Carpenter)
• The Second Street Gardens and the Green Truck Almanac (1995, illus. Alec Gillman, republished in 1997 under slightly different name)
• Grandmother Bryant’s Pocket (1996, illus. Petra Mathers), set in 1787 Maine: Suffering from nightmares after her dog is killed in a fire, a young girl goes to live with her grandparents. Won the Lupine Award.
• The Green Truck Garden Giveaway: A Neighborhood Story and Almanac (1997, illus. Alec Gillman, re-issue of her 1995 book of similar name)
• Higgins Bend Song and Dance (1997, illus. Brad Sneed)
• Button, Bucket, Sky (1998, illus. Vicki Jo Redenbaugh)
• Snowflake Bentley (1998); the illustrator, Mary Azarian, won the Caldecott Medal for this book. It also won the 1998 Lupine Award.
• The Lamp, the Ice and the Boat Called Fish (2001, illus. Beth Krommes), the story of a harrowing Arctic research voyage told from the perspective of an Inuit family on the voyage.
• On Sand Island (2003, illus. David Johnson)
• The Water Gift and the Pig of the Pig (2003, illus. Linda Wingerter): When her pet pig disappears, Isabel discovers that she has her grandfather’s gift for dowsing and finding lost animals. Won the Lupine Award.
• Banjo Granny (2006), by Sarah Martin Busse and Martin, illustrated by Barry Root. The book 'celebrates the meeting of grandmothers and grandbabies everywhere.'
• Chicken Joy on Redbean Road: A Bayou Country Romp (2007, illus. Melissa Sweet): A little brown hen gathers musicians to play for the quiet rooster. Unless he sings he will become stew.

The Children's Literature Network has information about many of Martin's books.


Last Update: 07/23/2007

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