Schools

Children's Book Author and Illustrator Spends Day at Wolf Hill [VIDEO]

Doreen Marts told students that it's possible to get paid to do what you love.

student got some great news on Friday, and it wasn't that school was closing early that day or that they were serving ice cream for lunch.

During a day-long event sponsored by the Oceanport PTO, author and illustrator Doreen Marts told students that she was living proof that you can make money doing something that you love.

Marts, 33, the illustrator of Easy Peasy Recipes, the Frankly Frannie series and the upcoming Baxter the Tweeting Dog, gave a presentation to students using her adorable drawings about the evolution of her career. She told them that when she was their age, she loved reading Dr. Seuss and watching cartoons on TV and practicing how to draw characters like Garfield over, and over and over.

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The students were really impressed when they learned that Marks, who lives in Lake Hoptacong, NJ, not only worked at Marvel Comics and Hasbro, but also at Disney World.

"On my days off, I got to ride the teacups," she told them.

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Now, the author draws inspiration from her 3-year old daughter Avery and her dog, Baxter, whose Twitter handle was the inspiration for an upcoming picture book that will be released on June 26.

Linda Risden, the school's librarian, told Patch that Marts gave students further inspriation for finding and doing what they love, following on the heels earlier this year of local author Audrey Vernick's visit to the school.

"Go for your dreams," Marts urged the students. "Find something you love to do."


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