“Are you sure you don’t want to hear something new?” I asked. But when I opened the box from Random House to reveal Snow and Rose’s stunning black cover, with its raised gold lettering and cloaked girls-one in pale blue and one in red-Emily exclaimed, “Oh, that’s the book we just finished in school!” Say what? (After my shock wore off, I delighted that her teachers have their pulse on contemporary children’s literature.) At once, Emily decided this would be our winter break read. It doesn’t happen often that my kids get to a book before I do. But who needs a tropical beach vacation when you have the mysterious, enchanted, dangerous woods of our imagination? (Um, still me. When the winter doldrums threaten to take over, we fantasize about escape. Emily, however, was game to join me each day on the couch and insisted we read Emily Winfield Martin’s newly-published and ohhhh-so-lovely Snow and Rose (Ages 8-12, slightly younger if reading aloud). In a somewhat bittersweet turn of events, JP was less interested in listening to me read than he was in reading his own book ( Five, Six, Seven, Nate!, the sequel to Tim Federle’s fabulous Better Nate Than Ever, which I can at least take credit for introducing to him last fall, on our trip to New York City to catch his first Broadway musical). A series of vignettes, Oddfellow's Orphanage, which she also wrote and illustrated, was described by Publishers Weekly as a 'poignant and gently humorous debut set in an unusual orphanage.' She also produced a popular crafts book, The Black Apple's Paper Doll Primer: Activities and Amusements for the Curious Paper Artist.After the holiday dishes were done, after the last of our guests flew home, our family did what we do best on winter breaks: we hunkered down and read. Martin has written and illustrated seven children's books: an enigmatic book of story fragments & illustrations called The Imaginaries, middle grade fairy tale retelling Snow & Rose, picture books The Wonderful Things You Will Be, Dream Animals: A Bedtime Journey, Day Dreamers: A Journey of Imagination, and The Littlest Family's Big Day. Eventually Martin parlayed these successes into a career in professional book publication. She lives in Portland, Oregon.Īfter graduating from art school in 2005, Martin began selling her visual art through the online store Etsy, thereafter achieving acclaim in The New York Times, on CNN, and on The Martha Stewart Show as one of Etsy's original and most enduring success stories. Emily Winfield Martin is an American artist and author-illustrator of children's books.

Snow and rose by emily winfield martin