Every child deserves to be the hero of a story.
Welcome! I'm Victoria Martin, children's author of The Cardboard Box Adventures and The Grimoire. I create magical, inclusive stories that celebrate imagination, belonging and the many different ways children experience the world.
Meet the Author
Hello! I'm Victoria Martin, a children's author with a passion for creating magical stories where every child can feel seen, valued and included.
Inspired by imagination, adventure and real-life experiences, my books explore friendship, courage, curiosity and belonging through warm, engaging stories for young readers.
When I'm not writing, you'll usually find me with a coffee in hand, planning my next adventure or dreaming up new magical worlds to explore.
🍂 Welcome to What's New
November 2026
November has arrived, bringing new nature discoveries, seasonal celebrations, thoughtful remembrance activities and exciting developments in my publishing journey! 🍂📚
Across the website, you'll find fresh educational resources, opportunities for creative exploration and updates on the children's books I've been working on.
🌿 November Nature Hub Highlights
This month, the Nature Hub welcomes five seasonal highlights: Deer, Holly, Ivy, Mosses and Lichens, and Winter Visiting Birds.
From watching deer in open fields and admiring bright holly berries to discovering delicate lichens on tree branches and spotting birds arriving for winter, November offers plenty of opportunities for discovery.
Each collection includes educational information and accessible activities designed to encourage curiosity, creativity and a connection with the natural world.
The monthly Nature Hub blog also shares my personal observations, including unexpected encounters with deer, my love of colourful climbing plants and my rather complicated relationship with moss! 🍃🦌
Later in November, our mid-month Environmental Highlight will explore Fog and Mist, including how these atmospheric conditions form and transform familiar landscapes. 🌫️
🔥 Bonfire Night
Our Bonfire Night collection explores the celebration's history, traditions and the science behind colourful fireworks.
Children can discover the topic through reading, creative activities, sensory exploration and hands-on learning.
The resources also recognise that fireworks can be exciting for some children but overwhelming for others, offering quieter and more accessible ways to participate.
🪔 Diwali: The Festival of Lights
The Diwali collection introduces children to the stories, traditions and symbols associated with this beautiful Festival of Lights.
Through creative activities, educational resources and opportunities for exploration, children can learn about decorative diyas, colourful rangoli patterns and the importance of light in Diwali celebrations.
The aim is to encourage respectful curiosity, cultural understanding and an appreciation of the different traditions celebrated by families and communities. 🪔✨
❤️ Remembrance Day
November also brings Remembrance Day, providing an important opportunity to reflect on those affected by war and conflict.
The Remembrance collection includes educational activities, colouring pages and creative resources exploring the poppy, remembrance traditions and the importance of compassion.
Each resource is designed to support age-appropriate understanding, recognising that children may respond to difficult subjects and emotions in different ways.
💚 Learning, Growing and Making Resources More Inclusive
Over the past month, I've continued to develop my own knowledge and understanding, learning even more about the different ways children experience, process and engage with learning.
One of the biggest developments has been incorporating more Thrive-informed approaches into the educational resources I'm creating.
This means thinking beyond the activity itself and considering how emotional wellbeing, relationships, sensory experiences and individual developmental needs can influence a child's ability to participate.
Many of my newer resources have been developed with these principles in mind, placing greater emphasis on emotional safety, connection, flexibility and meaningful engagement.
I'm also continuing to explore ways of making activities more accessible, recognising that children may communicate, respond and demonstrate their understanding in very different ways.
Whether a child participates through observation, movement, sensory exploration, creative expression or direct interaction, their involvement should be recognised as valuable.
For me, inclusive learning isn't about expecting every child to complete an activity in the same way.
It's about creating opportunities where children feel supported, understood and able to explore at their own pace.
The more I learn, the more I can reflect on my own practice and continue improving the resources I share.
And that's something I'm genuinely passionate about continuing to develop as the website grows. 💚
📚 My First Two Books Are Now Available!
Following their October publication, my first two children's books are continuing to reach new readers! 🎉
The Grimoire: The White Unicorn and The Cardboard Box Adventures: The Missing Spyglass are now available as eBooks through Amazon Kindle and Kobo, with Apple Books hopefully joining the list soon.
For those who prefer a physical book, the paperback editions are available through Amazon and Waterstones Online.
One of my biggest hopes is to see the books appearing on Waterstones shelves, particularly in some of my local stores.
There is something incredibly exciting about imagining walking into a bookshop and discovering one of my own books waiting on the shelf! ❤️📚
✨ Preparing the Next Adventures for December
With the first two books now published, November marks the beginning of the final preparation for the next adventures in both children's series.
I'll be reviewing the manuscripts, checking the illustrations, making final corrections and preparing the books for publication, with the aim of releasing them in December.
Both The Grimoire and The Cardboard Box Adventures continue to celebrate imagination, encourage understanding and explore the different ways children experience the world.
I'm looking forward to sharing more about the upcoming stories as they move closer to their release! ✨📖
💙 Thank You for Being Here
Whether you're exploring the Nature Hub, discovering seasonal activities, looking for inclusive educational resources or following my writing journey, thank you for being here.
Everything I create is guided by a commitment to imagination, inclusion and making learning more accessible for children with different needs and interests.
I hope November brings you plenty of opportunities to discover, create and enjoy the changing season.
Happy exploring, and thank you for supporting my little corner of the world!
Vicky x
Welcome to What's New
October 2026
October has arrived, bringing autumn wildlife, seasonal celebrations, ADHD Awareness Month and some very exciting book news! 🍂🎃📚
There is lots happening across the website this month, with new Nature Hub highlights, seasonal resources, awareness content and celebrations appearing throughout October. And after months of writing, illustrating, editing and preparing, I can finally say that my books are being published!
🍂 October Nature Highlights
The Nature Hub has had its October update, and this month we are exploring some of my absolute favourite parts of British autumn wildlife and nature.
Discover British Owls, British Bats, British Foxes, British Fungi and Pumpkins, with accessible information, interesting facts, activities and opportunities to encourage children to look more closely at the natural world around them.
From listening for owls after dark and watching bats hunting for insects, to searching woodland floors for fascinating fungi and discovering how pumpkins grow, October is a brilliant month for getting outside, exploring and noticing the changing season.
There is also a new October Nature Notes blog, where I share some of my own memories and experiences with this month's highlights — including owl walks, bats swooping slightly too close to my head, woodland fungi hunts, pumpkin festivals and our local fox's rather dramatic middle-of-the-night screaming performances. 🦉🦇🦊🍄🎃
🧠 ADHD Awareness Month
October is ADHD Awareness Month, making it an important opportunity to increase understanding, acceptance and accurate information about ADHD.
Throughout the month, I'll be highlighting information and resources from the Neurodiversity Hub, including the dedicated ADHD section.
ADHD is about far more than simply being “hyperactive” or easily distracted, and greater understanding can help children and young people feel supported rather than judged. The resources across the website explore areas such as executive functioning, emotional regulation, sensory needs, attention, overwhelm and everyday support, while recognising that every neurodivergent person has their own individual experiences, strengths and needs.
There will be more ADHD-related content appearing throughout October, helping to continue conversations around neurodiversity, inclusion and understanding. 💜
🎃 Halloween Is Coming
It would be impossible to reach October without making room for Halloween, and there will be plenty of spooky seasonal content appearing across the website.
The Halloween section explores the history and traditions behind 31 October, including pumpkin lanterns, guising, trick-or-treating, costumes, folklore and some of the real British wildlife hidden behind familiar Halloween imagery.
There will also be Halloween activities and learning resources to help children explore the season through reading, creativity and accessible learning — with considerably more pumpkins, bats, owls and fungi along the way. 👻🎃
🔥 Samhain and the Wheel of the Year
As October reaches its end, the Wheel of the Year will turn once again as we explore Samhain.
Samhain has roots in Gaelic seasonal traditions and marks an important point in the traditional calendar as the lighter part of the year gives way to the darker season.
The Samhain section provides an opportunity to explore history, nature, seasonal change and traditions in an accessible way, while carefully distinguishing between documented history, later folklore and modern practices.
New Samhain resources and activities will also be available as we approach the end of October. 🍎🔥🍂
📚 And the BIG News... My Books Are Finally Being Published!
After all the writing, illustrating, editing, correcting, formatting and preparing, I can finally officially say it:
My books are being published! 🎉📚
The Grimoire: The White Unicorn and The Cardboard Box Adventures: The Missing Spyglass both have their official release date set for:
15 October 2026! 🎉
Both books will be available as paperbacks and eBooks, beginning two very different children's book series that have been created with imagination, adventure and accessible storytelling at their heart.
There are already book-related activities and resources available across the website, allowing children to continue exploring the stories and characters beyond the books themselves.
There will be lots more book news throughout October, including updates as publication day gets closer and, of course, plenty of celebrating when 15 October finally arrives.
It has taken an enormous amount of work to reach this point, so seeing an actual publication date attached to these stories feels incredibly exciting. ❤️📚
🌿 And There Is Still More to Come...
October is going to be a very busy month, and the updates definitely don't stop here.
Alongside the new Nature Hub highlights, ADHD Awareness Month, Halloween and Samhain, there will be new resources, articles, seasonal learning ideas and book updates appearing throughout the month.
The website continues to grow with the same aim at its heart: creating a space that supports imagination, understanding and belonging, while helping make learning feel accessible, interesting and enjoyable.
Whether you are here for nature and seasonal learning, neurodiversity resources, children's activities or the increasingly exciting journey towards publication day, I hope you find something useful, interesting or simply enjoyable to explore.
Have a look around, download anything that might be useful, and don't forget to pop back throughout October because there is plenty more still to come!
And on 15 October, there may be just a tiny amount of celebrating happening around here... 🎉📚🥳
Vicky x
September 2026
September has arrived, bringing lots of new resources and some exciting new additions to the website!
🍂 September Nature Highlights
The Nature Hub has had its September update! This month we are exploring Hedgehogs, Apples, Oak Trees, Squirrels and Spiders as we begin to notice the first signs of autumn appearing around us. Discover facts, activities, reading comprehensions, creative learning ideas and plenty of opportunities to take learning outdoors.
🧠 The Neurodiversity Hub is now live!
A brand-new area of the website has launched, bringing together accessible information and resources covering Autism, ADHD, PDA and Demand Avoidance, EBSA, Sensory Processing Difficulties, Learning Difficulties, Anxiety, Depression, and OCD. More coming soon.
The Hub has been created to make information easier to understand and explore, whether you're a young person, parent, carer, educator or simply looking to learn more.
💜 New Low Demand Resources
You'll also find a growing collection of Low Demand Resources in the Downloads section. These have been designed with neurodivergent children and young people in mind, particularly those who may experience demand avoidance, overwhelm, executive functioning difficulties or anxiety.
Rather than adding more pressure, these resources focus on choice, flexibility, communication, regulation and gentle support — helping children find ways forward without turning everyday tasks into another demand.
🌿 And there is still more to come...
September isn't finished yet! Later this month, the Nature Hub will explore Autumn as our seasonal Environmental Highlight, alongside new Mabon resources as we reach the Autumn Equinox, found in the Wheel of the Year section.
The website continues to grow every month, with new resources, articles and ideas being added regularly. Everything is created with the same aim at its heart: supporting imagination, understanding and belonging, while making learning feel accessible, interesting and enjoyable.
Have a look around, download anything that might be useful, and don't forget to pop back soon to see what's been added next!
Vicky x
August 2026 Midmonth Update
New on the 14th August - Nature Hubs August Environmental Highlight and New Resources
Make sure to check out the nature hub page to find out about this month’s environment highlight: - Meadows and Wildflowers. 23 new resources free to download.
August 2026
Welcome to my brand-new website! This month marks the beginning of an exciting adventure, and I honestly couldn't be happier with how it has grown. What started as a simple place to share my books has already become so much more than I imagined, with free educational resources, seasonal activities and plenty more exciting ideas still to come.
While my manuscripts are currently being considered by literary agents and publishers, you can still discover both of my book series by exploring their blurbs, themes, characters and the inspiration behind each story. I can't wait to share the full adventures with you when the time comes!
As we approach Lughnasadh (Lammas) on 1st August, I've also created a growing collection of free seasonal resources for children, families, teachers and carers. You'll find information pages, activity sheets, colouring pages, word searches, mazes and creative activities to help you celebrate the first harvest in a fun, inclusive and accessible way.
This website is growing every week, so don't forget to check back regularly and share far and wide with friends, family, schools and colleagues. New books, educational resources, seasonal activities and exciting updates are always just around the corner!
Hope you enjoy.
Vicky
x
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Follow along as my books, resources and publishing journey continue to grow.