The NCBLA Board of Directors

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Mary Brigid Barrett

Mary Brigid Barrett, aka MB², is: mom to three terrific and exhausting young adults; wife of Richard A. Groth Jr.; personal masseuse to Lily the Wonder Basset; a children’s book author and illustrator; a professional educator; and the founder, president, and executive director of the NCBLA.

Barrett’s first book, Sing to the Stars (Little Brown), was a American Booksellers’ Association “Pick of the List” and was named a National Council of Social Studies Teachers and Children’s Book Council “Notable Children Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies.” It is also a recommended read in a number of multicultural book guides. Day Care Days (Little, Brown) won an Oppenheim Gold Award, given to outstanding new books that enhance children’s lives, as well as being named one of the best books of 1999 by Working Mother’s Magazine. The Man of the House at Huffington Row (Harcourt Brace), which Barrett wrote and illustrated, was named the “Best Book of the Year” for children eight to twelve by the National Storyteller’s Association, and paintings from Huffington Row were exhibited in a juried illustration show at The Norman Rockwell Museum. Barrett wrote a number of critical essays on children’s literature for Children’s Books and Their Creators (Houghton Mifflin) edited by Anita Silvey. And her four board books – Snow Baby, Mud Baby, Beach Baby, and Leaf Baby (Harcourt Brace) – were named Beginning With Books’ “Outstanding Books for Toddlers and Preschoolers,” a recognition she particularly cherishes as an avid admirer of Beginning With Books’ outstanding literacy work in Pennsylvania. Barrett’s most recent publication is the picture book Shoebox Sam, illustrated by Frank Morrison and published by Zonderkidz, a division of HarperCollins Publishers, in July 2011.

Currently, MB2 is working on a set of baby board books and a young adult novel, both for Candlewick Press. And with Candlewick Press she edited the NCBLA publication, Our White House: Looking In, Looking Out, a read-aloud family anthology of prose, poetry, drama, nonfiction, and art, that promotes reading and historical literacy. All profits for Our White House support the work and programs of the NCBLA.

MB² taught creative writing and book illustration at the Rhode Island School of Design and frequently guest lectures at colleges and universities in New England. She teaches writing workshops to teachers and students of all ages and, as an author/illustrator, she is sought after for in-school residency programs.