Bill Martin, Jr.

William Ivan "Bill" 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 Chicka Boom Boom, (co-authored with John Archambault) Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?, Baby Bear, Baby Bear, What Do You See?, Panda Bear, Panda Bear, What Do You See?, and Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear? The Bill Martin Jr. Award, which is the Kansas state award for best children's picture book, was established in his honor in 1996.

Martin was born and raised in Hiawatha, Kansas. His father was a paperhanger and his mother a housewife; he was one of 5 brothers. He had difficulty reading until he went to college, at the Kansas State Teacher's College in Emporia, Kansas. There he memorized poems that a teacher read aloud in class, and was then able to relate the words to what was on the page. Enthusiastic about helping other children learn to read by "[having] language inside of themselves," he went on to earn a doctorate in early childhood education from Northwestern University in 1961.

After graduating with his bachelor's degree, Martin taught journalism, drama, and English at high schools in Newton and St. John, Kansas. During World War II, he served in the Army Air Force as a newspaper editor and wrote his first book, The Little Squeegy Bug, 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 10 more books with his brother and by the time of his death had published more than 300 children's books, always working with a carefully chosen illustrator. He liked to collaborate and to make many revisions until the words sounded right. Martin then worked as principal of Crow Island Elementary School in Winnetka, Illinois, and later moved to New York City and joined the publishing company Holt, Rinehart and Winston, where he was editor in chief of the school division during the 1960s and developed innovative reading programs.

...
Wikipedia