Mary Jane Begin's award-winning children's picture book portfolio includes A Mouse Told His Mother, Little Mouse's Painting, Before I Go To Sleep, The Porcupine Mouse, Jeremy's First Haircut and The Wind in the Willows. She is currently working on a The Sorcerer's Apprentice due for publication in the fall of 2005.

She has had a one woman show at RisdWorks at the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence. She has also exhibited at the RISD Faculty Biennial (RI), Society of Illustrators (NY), The DeCordova Museum (MA), as well as other fine galleries nationwide.

Her work has been featured in Communication Arts magazine and the Society of Illustrators Annual of American Illustration. 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 won the Ruth W. Finley Award from the Providence Art Club this month. 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, Popshots, See's Candies, Franklin Mint, and Disney.

She has been a panelist and participant in numerous conferences and workshops, including the Rhode Island Festival of Children's Books and Authors, the National Family Literacy Conference, the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators Conference, and the NEA Teacher's Conference.

Her illustrating career began as a student at the Rhode Island School of Design, where she now teaches as a member of the faculty in the Illustration Department. She has lectured at elementary schools throughout the United States, and has also provided pro bono and charity work for the Rhode Island Library Association, Save the Bay, Horizons Initiative, Gateway Healthcare and Hasbro Children's Hospital.

Book List
	Little Mouse's Painting by Diane Wolkstein April 1992		A Mouse Told His Mother by Bethany Roberts August 1999
	Before I Go to Sleep by Thomas Hood April 1999