Mary Brigid Barrett 

Mary Brigid Barrett is a children’s book author and illustrator; a professional educator; and the founder, president, and executive director of the NCBLA.
 
Barrett conceived the idea of Our White House: Looking In, Looking Out (Candlewick) as an engaging solution to help confront historical illiteracy. She worked as an editor for the book and also contributed a written piece and an illustration concerning the building of the White House. She is the main writer and editor-in-chief of the Our White House website.  

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, and was named one of the best books of 1999 by Working Mother’s Magazine. The Man of the House at Huffington Row (Harcourt), 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) edited by Anita Silvey. And her four board books – Snow Baby, Mud Baby, Beach Baby, and Leaf Baby (all Harcourt) – 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 has written a picture book, Shoe Box Sam, for Zondervan Publishing, a division of HarperCollins, that will be out in 2010. She is currently writing a set of toddler board books and a young adult novel for Candlewick Press. She has 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.