Emily Martin's Blog, page 2

Downpour Reading and Signing in Geneva, Switzerland

On Saturday, July 27, I held a reading and signing of Downpour over at OffTheShelf English Bookshop (or the cutest little button of a bookstore you ever set your eyes on!)

The reading happened on a rolling basis, which meant that every time little peanuts rolled into the store, I sat down with whichever ...

Downpour Launch in Canada

As many of you know, Mara Shaughnessy, the illustrator of Downpour, is Canadian. In honor of the book’s release, a launch was held at the AGH Design Annex in Hamilton, Ontario, to coincide with Hamilton’s once monthly “Art Crawl.”

Mara had some cupcakes handy (for the hungry crawlers) and some coloring pages to ...

Bigfoot Reads Blog Lists Downpour

You said adorable blog? I say Bigfoot Reads! With some posts that are half-stories, half-poems, and 100% lyrical (with contributions from readers too), I am so proud for Downpour to have been listed on this awesome blog under “The books Oliver reads to his dad.” Thanks, Oliver! We’re glad Downpour is keeping your ...

Downpour Book Launch

It was a little party of poppies, red, and rain on June 15 when The Book People (Austin, TX) welcomed me for the first public reading of Downpour.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many sweet and well-behaved children. They truly gave the gathering its pulse.

We had fun raising red paddles I had ...

Penguin Race or The Great Affront to Silence

An advantage books have over toys is silence. Although French publishers have been doing their best to ruin my quiet time with those-adorable-things-I-can’t-even-possibly-be-mad-at, books seem to generally TURN ON the quiet, which makes them awesome.

A day or so ago, I was browsing some gift ideas online for our daughter’s impending birthday when I ...

Downpour Book Trailer is “Book Trailer of the Day” at Shelf Awareness

Thank you, Shelf Awareness! This amazing indie book site featured the book trailer for Downpour as its “Book Trailer of the Day” on May 31. Check out the site, the recs, the trailers. The site is a gold mine.

A Nice Relaxing Shower

Enter shower. Baby approaches toilet, which you forgot to cover. Plunges hand in toilet. Exit shower. Cover toilet. Enter shower. Baby rummages through garbage can, pulls out a Q-tip, which she is certainly about to shove in her mouth. Exit shower. Remove Q-tip. Baby cries. Place garbage can in bathtub, where it is safe. Enter ...

Vintage Children’s Picture Books

The other day, my friend Natalie—a delightfully 1950s type of gal with the ability to throw a baby shower that would put Martha Stewart to shame (and who also happens to be a successful attorney)—asked me if I had ever seen some children’s picture books from the 1920s. I was busy changing a diaper when ...

2013 Crystal Kite Member Choice Award Winners Revealed

The Crystal Kite Member Choice Awards are unique in the children’s literature field as they are given to writers and illustrators BY other writers and illustrators (to be specific, other SCBWI members). They stand as a complement to the SCBWI Golden Kite Awards.

Check out the 2013 winners for each region here.

Current ...

An Interview with Illutrator Extraordinaire Mara Shaughnessy

Tell us a secret:

I’m a Food Network junkie. If nothing I like is on the food network, I shut the TV off and find something else to do. Wait, I lied, I also love Project Runway.

So what is your favorite food?

If sentenced to the electric chair, my last meal would include: pork ...