Martha Alexander

Martha Alexander is an author and illustrator who was born in Augusta, Georgia, on May 25, 1920. She attended the Cincinnati Academy of Fine Arts in Ohio from 1938 through 1942. Her marriage to Willson Stamper ended in divorce in 1959. Ms. Alexander, the creator of so many humorous children in literature, is the mother of two—a girl, Kim, and a boy, Allen. Martha Alexander is the embodiment of the person who marches to the beat of a different drummer. It is this same determination that has made her so successful in publishing. Her first published illustrative work was not for children, but for adults, drawing cosmetics for magazines. When she made the discovery that she was not going to get rich by drawing makeup, she decided she may as well draw something she would like to. And if she became rich in the process, so much the better. Her economic status aside, Martha has decidedly enriched the children's book field with her characteristically small-format books such as the Blackboard Bear series, among others. (adapted from Jim Roginski's "Behind The Covers")