Books

More than fifty books bringing the natural world to young readers

Martin’s books are published mainly by Walker Books in the UK and Candlewick Press in the US — nonfiction picture books and illustrated nature stories written for curious young readers, alongside two illustrated retellings of classic literature.

Nature & wildlife

A selection from the catalogue

The Emperor’s Egg

Illustrated by Jane Chapman · Read and Wonder

How an emperor penguin father keeps a single egg warm through the Antarctic winter, waiting for his mate to return.

Times Junior Information Book of the Year Award

Can We Save the Tiger?

Illustrated by Vicky White

A look at endangered species around the world, and the conservation stories — some hopeful, some cautionary — behind efforts to save them.

Ape

Illustrated by Vicky White

An introduction to the great apes — gorillas, chimpanzees, orangutans, and bonobos — and what makes each of them remarkable.

A Walk Through the Rainforest

Illustrated by Vicky White

A guided journey through a tropical rainforest, following the plants and animals that live in each of its layers.

Chameleons Are Cool

Read and Wonder

A close, first-person look at how chameleons hunt, hide, and survive — part of the series that first brought Martin into children’s publishing.

Fabulous Frogs

Illustrated by Tim Hopgood · Read and Wonder

A tour of the frog world, from tree frogs to poison frogs, told with the same curiosity Martin brought to his fieldwork.

Puffin

Illustrated by Jenni Desmond · Nature Storybooks

A single puffin’s year, from cliffside colony to open ocean and back again.

Endangered Animals

Illustrated by Tom Frost · Walker Studio

Profiles of species under threat, and the habitats and pressures putting them there.

Life: The First Four Billion Years

Illustrated by Grahame Baker-Smith

The story of life on Earth, from the first single cells through the age of the dinosaurs to the arrival of humans.

Fly Traps! Plants that Bite Back

Illustrated by David Parkins · Read and Discover

An introduction to carnivorous plants and the strange ways they trap their prey.

Times Junior Information Book Award — shortlisted

Illustrated classics

Alongside his nature writing, Martin has written prose retellings of two literary classics, both illustrated by Chris Riddell.

Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver

Illustrated by Chris Riddell

A retelling of Gulliver’s Travels for young readers.

Kate Greenaway Medal 2004 — awarded to Riddell’s illustrations

Don Quixote

Illustrated by Chris Riddell

A retelling of Cervantes’s Don Quixote for young readers.

This is a selection from a catalogue of more than fifty titles. For the full list, see Martin’s author pages at Walker Books, Penguin Random House, or Goodreads.