Michael Martchenko, a Burlington local and illustrator of more than 25 of famed Canadian author Robert Munsch’s books, continues to draw, after around 60 years as an illustrator and 40 years working on children’s books.
Martchenko would move around with his family a lot as a child, rarely staying in one place for too long before moving again. Always an avid illustrator, Martchenko would find ways to practice his drawing skills.
“When I was a kid, we lived on a farm for a while and we had a radio,” he said. “I’d sit in front of it and hear the shows late at night or in the evening. I’d sit there and listen to a western or a mystery story and I’d make drawings inspired by what I was hearing. It’s a lot like doing kids' books, you hear a story and you illustrate it.”
Martchenko wanted to become an illustrator from a young age, and would take any chance that came his way to practice his art and pursue his dream.
“I used to fill my notebooks with drawings,” Martchenko said. “I’d take any opportunity I got to illustrate a historical event or the school newspaper, which I did the cartoons and the covers. I was one of the lucky guys, I knew what I wanted to do.”
The illustrator would go on to study at the Ontario College of Art and Design University and, after graduating, would find work as an art director at an advertising agency in Toronto while doing freelance illustration work on the side.
Martchenko’s break into illustrating for children’s books started with a show-and-tell night that the studio he worked for put on where artists could show off their own personal work.
Munsch, who had only recently been given the go-ahead to work on his 1980 international hit The Paper Bag Princess, attended the event to search for an illustrator who could match his writing style. Despite initially being disappointed by the work he saw at the event, Munsch would eventually come across Martchenko’s piece and pitch the story to the illustrator.
Despite how successful The Paper Bag Princess would eventually become, Martchenko didn’t think too hard on it at the time. He was initially not interested in a children’s story about a princess, a knight and a dragon, but would warm to Munsch’s unique take on the classic tale when he found that the princess denied his expectations.
At first, The Paper Bag Princess was just a freelance job for Martchenko, but it would go on to mean much more to the illustrator.
“The Paper Bag Princess started to change my life,” he said. “I started to get more and more books, eventually I was doing them at night or on weekends and once I had to cancel a holiday because I was behind. Finally, I said, ‘You know what, you should think more about what you want to do.’”
Martchenko left his old job in advertising and would take up doing illustrations for books full-time, while continuing to freelance on the side. The illustrator would continue to work with Munsch on many of his books, and would also work on 13 children's books with author Allen Morgan from 1984 to 2005 and freelance for several other authors over the years.
Martchenko’s partnership with Munsch would produce 29 books, including a 25th anniversary edition of The Paper Bag Princess, which will be celebrating its 45th anniversary next year.
“It’s very rewarding,” he said. “I still shake my head every now and then and think, ‘Wow, I’m lucky.’ I get the script and start reading it, and pictures start popping up into my head and I just start sketching, then I’m into it. I love it.”
Martchenko, who is now 82, still works with Munsch and has recently released another book with the Canadian author despite Munsch being diagnosed with dementia in late 2021. The illustrator now likes to spend his days in downtown Burlington at the waterfront while working on his books at night.
