MARY JANE BEGINIllustrator
MARY JANE BEGIN
Illustrator
Her illustrating career began as a student at the Rhode Island School of Design, where she has been teaching as a member of the faculty in the Illustration Department for 15 years.
She has had one woman shows at Books of Wonder Gallery in New York and Beverly Hills as well as RisdWorks at the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence. She has also exhibited at the RISD Faculty Biennial,
She is the recipient of many awards, including The Steven Donahos Award and multiple Certificates of Merit from the Society of Illustrators, multiple Awards of Excellence from Communications Arts, the Irma Simonton Black Award, the Critici Erba Prize at the Bologna Book Fair, Italy, and First Place, Juvenile Trade, at the New York Book Show, New York and the Providence Art Club’s Ruth W. Finley Award. Her work has been featured in Communication Arts Magazine, the Society of Illustrators Annual of American Illustration, and American Art in Review Magazine.
Her advertising and merchandising work includes imagery for greeting cards, posters, prints, games, mugs, gifts, textbooks, magazines, and advertisements for such clients as Hasbro, Milton Bradley, Celestial Seasonings, Annie’s HomeGrown, See's Candies, Franklin Mint, Disney, Pearson Education, Harcourt Publishing, Scott Foresman and Company, Macmillan McGraw Hill and Dalmatian Press.
She has been a panelist and participant in numerous conferences and workshops, including the
She has lectured at elementary schools throughout the United States, and has also provided pro bono and charity work for the American Library Association, the Rhode Island Library Association, Save the Bay, Horizons Initiative, Gateway Healthcare, Hasbro Children’s Hospital, All Children’s Theatre, The Providence Community Health Center, and Reach Out and Read Rhode Island.
When not teaching or painting, she can be found reading bedtime stories to her husband and two children in
The Sorcerer's Apprentice by Mary Jane Begin Reading level: Ages 4-8 Hardcover: 32 pages Publisher: Little, Brown Young Readers (November 2, 2005)
ISBN: 0316736112 
Wander hither across the floor
Go up the stairs and out the door
fetch some water from the well
fill the cauldron. heed my spell!
The sorcerer’s apprentice can’t help but wonder why she must spend her days cleaning and sweeping instead of practicing magic. Will she ever learn how to cast a spell? But the sorcerer had taught her that there are some things we must do for ourselves. And so the apprentice, taking matters into her own hands, beckons a broom to come to life and do her chores—until the broom’s power is more than the girl can handle.
From its origins in ancient
Editorial Reviews
From School Library Journal... The retelling is .... smooth, and the attractive acrylic paintings add drama and bits of fun. Single-page illustrations face text pages that are occasionally adorned with smaller vignettes and surrounded with rich blue borders decorated with objects of the sorcerers trade. The girl appears as a young adolescent, while the sorcerer is blonde and blue-eyed; both are beautifully costumed, she in Elizabethan-style dress and he in a fur-trimmed aqua robe and deep blue cape and hat. Begin's.... handsome rendering will be welcome in most libraries.–Margaret Bush, Simmons College, Boston Copyright Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist There are surprisingly few picture-book retellings of the classic story of the sorcerer's apprentice, perhaps because the imagery from Disney's Fantasia casts such a long shadow. Begin follows the story line closely--complete with anthropomorphic broomsticks, a chaotic flood, and a lesson learned--diverging only in the replacement of Mickey Mouse with a human girl. ...Her velvety acrylic paintings are appealingly cluttered with archetypal magician's-workshop details, and her characters... wear ornate, flowing medieval costumes. ... many kids appreciate a picture book that allows them to experience a favorite movie in a new (but still recognizable) way, and the connections between "sorcerers"and "wizards"will not be overlooked by youngsters who have caught the fantasy bug from their elders. Jennifer Mattson Copyright American Library Association. All rights reserved
R is for Rhode Island Red: A Rhode Island Alphabet
Edition 1. (Discover America State By State. Alphabet Series) (Board book) by Mark R. Allio (author) , Mary Jane Begin (Illustrator) Reading level: Ages 4-8 Board book: 40 pages Publisher: Sleeping Bear Press; 1 edition (October 7, 2005)
Rhode Island Red is Mark R. Allio's first children's book. He lives in Barrington, Rhode Island Award winning illustrator Mary Jane Begin has illustrated many children's books. She lives in Barrington, Rhode Island with her husband Mark Allio.
The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame, Mary Jane Begin (Illustrator) 208 pages Reading level: All Ages Edition: Hardcover Publisher: SeaStar; a division of North-South 
ISBN: 1587172046; (October 2002)
For nearly a century, steadfast friends Mole, Rat, Badger, and Toad have enchanted and entertained readers around the world with their adventures-rowing on the river, delving into the sinister Wild Wood, and exploring the open road. Now Kenneth Grahame's time-honored work comes to life as never before in 30 of Mary Jane Begin's inspired full-color paintings. From the friends' first picnic on River Bank to their final rousing defense of Toad Hall, Begin's cheerful, sparkling art captures all the magic and merriment of this enduring classic. Here is a 208-page deluxe edition that belongs on every child's bookshelf.
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly Mary Jane Begin illustrates the classic story of Mole, Badger, Rat and Toad, The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame. Each chapter opens with a vignette and includes a full-page painting of a dramatic moment in the proceedings. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
A Mouse Told His Mother by Bethany. Roberts, Mary Jane Begin (Illustrator) 32 pages Reading level: Ages 4-8 Publisher: Little Brown & Co (Juvenile Trade);
Hardcover ASIN: 0316749826; (April 1997)
Paperback ISBN: 0316749583 Reprint (Sept.1999)
Library Binding Econo-Clad Books ISBN 0613220390 (Sept.1999)
At bedtime, a mouse announces to his mother that he is going on a journey, and with the help of his imagination, taking a bath, brushing his teeth, and putting on pajamas are transformed into a treasure dive, a mountain climb, and a round-the-world flight.
Editorial Reviews
From Booklist A young mouse is on his way to bed--but you wouldn't know it from the way he talks. He is going on a trip, he is off to catch a crocodile, he is climbing up snowcapped mountains. Wise Mama Mouse gives him practical advice to temper his flights of fancy: he is going to bed; he should wash well and put on his warm pajamas. Roberts cleverly matches each of the little mouse's pronouncements with the more grounded recommendations from his mother. Begin, who appears to have specialized in drawing mouse worlds such as that in Pryor's Porcupine Mouse (1988), provides wonderful glossy artwork that fills the pages. She cleverly creates both the wide world of the little mouse's imagination and the cozier bedroom closer to home in this delightful nighttime lark. Ilene Cooper
From Kirkus Reviews A mouse child, at bedtime, tells his mother that he's going on a trip--to the moon, to dive for pirate treasure, to fly an airplane around the world, to explore a spooky cave, etc. Each exploit is suggested by something he sees around him--the boat in his bathtub, a toy plane, the dark ``cave'' under his bed. Without contradicting him, his mother gently brings him back to earth--and nearer bed--each time by reminding him to take his toothbrush, pack and extra blanket, and ``lights out now.'' In the delightful point- counterpoint between parent and child, Roberts (with Patricia Hubbell, Camel Caravan, 1996) follows the model of Margaret Wise Brown's Runaway Bunny; the parent wins this one, too, when the tired mouse drifts off to sleep with a smile on his face. Children will have fun matching the mouse's adventures with the everyday objects that inspire them. Begin has imagined the domestic details of a mouse's world with winsome humor: twig furniture, an acorn-cap washbasin, a bathtub made from an empty catfood tin; the pictures not only enhance the story, but really make it work. (Picture book. 3-7) -- Copyright 1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
From Horn Book 'The well-executed paintings contain tantalizing images of a mouse-sized world. -- Copyright 1997 The Horn Book, Inc. All rights reserved.
Little Mouse's Painting by Diane Wolkstein, Mary Jane Begin (Illustrator), 32 pages Reading level: Ages 4-8 Publisher: SeaStar a division of North-South
Hardcover ISBN: 1587171244 (March 2002)
Paperback ISBN 1587171252; Reprint (March 2002)
Little Mouse decides to make a painting. But when she shows the painting to her friends, they all have their own ideas about what's in the picture-and no one will listen to what Little Mouse has to say about it!
Diane Wolkstein's many-layered story celebrates the surprises of friendship and the joy of creativity-and Little Mouse's circle of friends is brought irresistibly to life in Mary Jane Begins' exquisite, jewel-like illustrations. First published in 1992 to great praise and attention, this beloved story is now available in paperback for the first time.
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly . . . Begin's color-saturated acrylics are masterfully exacted. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
From Kirkus *Starred Review*. . . . carefully crafted story . . . is brought to enchanting life in meticulous paintings. -- Copyright 1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
From Booklist *Starred Review* Wolkstein offers a unique story with depth and nuance that is matched by Begin's attention-grabbing art ..."
Before I Go to Sleep by Thomas Hood, Mary Jane Begin (Illustrator), Reading level: Ages 4-8 32 pages Publisher: Morrow Junior;
Library Binding: ISBN: 0688124240; (April 1999)
Paperback Pub: Sandcastle; ASIN: 0399224408; Reprint (April 1993)
On a summer evening, when it's just too hot to sleep, a child amuses himself by imagining all the delightfully funny animals he would like to be. There's a tap-dancing giraffe, a musical chimpanzee, a mountain goat in silly socks ... the fun goes on and on until the boy - and young listeners - are finally ready for sleep. But before they drift off, children will enjoy looking for a special character who appears in each of the illustrations. Mary Jane Begin's lustrous, brilliantly detailed illustrations illuminate the imaginative night-dreams in Thomas Hood's classic nineteenth-century poem.
Editorial Reviews
From Horn Book Unable to sleep, a boy fantasizes about animals he'd like to be. From a mountain goat in ''pink and purple socks'' to a schoolmaster frog, he lets his imagination run wild in the humorous poem originally written more than 150 years ago. . . . whimsical, detailed illustrations . . . Copyright 1999 The Horn Book, Inc. All rights reserved.
The Porcupine Mouse by Bonnie Pryor, Mary Jane Begin (Illustrator) 32 pages Reading level: Ages 4-8 Publisher: SeaStar, a division of North-South Revised edition (August 2002) 
Hardcover ISBN: 1587171856
Paperback ISBN: 1587171864
When Louie and Dan leave home, each wants to handle things his own way. Can these two little mice figure out how to get along-and survive the dangers of the forest? First published in 1988, a new generation of readers will fall in love with this delightfully lighthearted mouse adventure, featuring Mary Jane Begin's irresistible illustrations.
Bank Street College Children's Book Award 1989
Editorial Reviews
From Booklist *Starred Review* Pryor's story is warm and winning, fully matched by Begin's pictures, so alive that the cat and mouse brothers seem ready to spring off the pages.
Jeremy's First Haircut by Linda Walvoord Girard, Mary Jane Begin-Callanan (Illustrator) School & Library Binding: 24 pages Publisher: Albert Whitman & Co; ASIN:
0807538051; (August 1986)
Editorial Reviews
From School Library Journal 2 Two-year-old Jeremy is in need of his first trim. After a little explaining and much coaxing, mom gets Jeremy into the chair where she tries, unsuccessfully, to administer the haircut. Jeremy scrambles away, and the attempt at barbering continues in the sandbox. By the time dad arrives home, the boy's hair is in a state of disarray. Finally, mom and dad alternate between cutting Jeremy's hair and distracting him until the task is eventually accomplished. Girard presents a light-hearted story to which most children will relate. Begin's full-page color drawings capture the mood nicely as Jeremy's appearance turns from ragamuffin to well-groomed little boy.. . . Tom Hurlburt, Minneapolis Public Library
Presentations
| MARY JANE BEGIN PRESENTS: Make a Picture, Tell a Story My presentation consists of:
|
Mary Jane Begin prefers to do no more than 3 sessions per day and to include a book signing. The professional fee is $300 per session plus travel expenses if applicable.
Contact
Mary Jane Begin
30 Bay Road
Barrington, RI 02806
Phone/fax- 401-247-7978
mailto:mjbegin@cox.net
Website: http://www.maryjanebegin.com
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