Meet the illustrator Marc Martin

Begin with this video of the book A Forest by Marc Martin - the book is wonderful of course but this is also one of the best book videos I have ever seen. 

Just having my books published has been a highlight! A Forest was originally self-published, but I was lucky enough to get the attention of Penguin Australia who seemed to think it was worthy of a larger publishing deal! Reading the reviews for A Forest has been really exciting, and having the book compared to those by Jeannie Baker (one of my favourite picture book authors) is a real thrill.

Marc Martin is an illustrator and author based in Naarm/Melbourne. He works across a range of commercial projects, murals, editorial work, gallery shows and picture books. He is the author-illustrator of internationally award-winning books, including A Forest, A River, Everything & Everywhere and Masters of Disguise. He has twice been awarded Best Illustrated Picture Book by the New York Times, for A River (2017) and We Are Starlings (2023).

You can follow Marc Martin on Instagram. Perusing the webpages on his agent's site you will see Marc Martin has designed all sorts of things - cups for T2; Melbourne city brochures; wine bottle labels; covers for book catalogues; cushion covers; water bottles and keep cups; a huge city mural; and even a jigsaw (it is a circle and it has 1000 pieces!). You can also see his art and some of these extra things on his own webpage.  Here is a Q&A with Marc. 

Here on this blog I have previously talked about:

A River

Max 

(I own a limited edition print from this book - it is a piece of art I cherish)

A Stone is a Story

Here is the Kirkus review

Here are some other books illustrated by Marc Martin that you are sure to find in your local or school library:

If you love art by Sydney Smith from Canada you are certain to fall in love with all the books by our Australian illustrator Marc Martin. 

Here is the new book Dawn [9781529527346] from Marc Martin which will arrive here in September. I have put it at the top of my 'to buy' list.

You can see a few images from this book here. Blurb from author page: As the sun slowly rises, many things happen in a small window of time. The world comes alive with the actions of animals, plants, clouds, and sky. A deer drinks, an owl wakes, a dandelion shimmers in the light. A ladybug climbs, a fish jumps, birds call in a chorus. Geese fly away in formation. A flower blooms. Beautifully illustrated with glowing imagery and written with a charming simplicity holding appeal for new readers, Marc Martin’s ode to the slow-blooming beauty of a sunrise and the life that unfolds in its radiance narrows the lens to show the wonder of time passing. The Kirkus Star review said:

Truly stunning

His other new book is All About Antarctica due for release here in Australia in mid October 2025.

When I attended the USBBY conference in Austin Texas and I spoke at the Texas writer's festival I was keen to take a notebook because I knew there would be lots of great sessions. At the airport I was so delighted to find a notebook with a cover design by Marc Martin.  Here is the pattern on the cover.

Image source: Jacky Winter

IBBY Australia will be running our mini masterpiece art auction again this year as a way to raise funds for our IBBY international membership fee which is more than AUS$10,000. I am going to invite Marc Martin to participate and send us a small postcard sized piece of art for our auction. In 2023 we raised nearly AUS$9000 and we had art from some wonderful Australian illustrators - hopefully this event will be just as exciting in 2025. I hope he agrees to send us a tiny piece of his art as a part of our 2025 auction. Fingers Crossed!