Gene Barretta (born September 9, 1960) is an American children's book author and illustrator, animator and character designer. Barretta graduated from

Doane Academy Doane Academy is a coeducational, independent day school for grades from Pre-K to 12 located in Burlington, Burlington County, New Jersey, United States. Originally called St. Mary's Hall, it was founded in May 1837 by Episcopal Bishop George ...

in 1978 and was the school's commencement speaker in 2017. He graduated from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

Tisch School of Arts The New York University Tisch School of the Arts (commonly referred to as Tisch) is the performing, cinematic and media arts school of New York University. Founded on August 17, 1965, Tisch is a training ground for artists, scholars of the a ...

with a BFA in film studies. He currently lives with his son outside of

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

. Gene is also the older brother of

Muppet The Muppets are an American ensemble cast of puppet characters known for an surreal humor, absurdist, burlesque, and self-referential humor, self-referential style of Variety show, variety-sketch comedy. Created by Jim Henson in 1955, they are ...

performer, writer and director,

Bill Barretta William Paul Barretta (born June 19, 1964) is an American puppeteer, actor, producer, writer, and director, who is best known for providing the puppetry and voice of characters such as Pepe the King Prawn, Johnny Fiama, Big Mean Carl, and Bobo ...

Bibliography

Books

Gene began illustrating mass-market and novelty books in 2000 and eventually transitioned to picture books into 2003. He has also contributed to children's magazines such as Cobblestone, Odyssey, Faces and Appleseeds. Picture books include: *''Starring Steven Spielberg: The Making of a Young Filmmaker'' - (Christy Ottaviano Books/Little, Brown & Co. - Fall 2022) *''The Secret Garden of George Washington Carver'' - (HarperCollins - Winter 2020) *''The Bat Can Bat: A Book of True Homonyms'' - (Henry Holt & Co.- Winter 2018) *''Muhammad Ali: A Champion is Born'' - (HarperCollins - Winter 2017) *''Lincoln and Kennedy'' - (Henry Holt & Co. - Summer 2016) *''Conrad and the Cowgirl Next Door'' - Illustrator. Written by Denette Fretz. (Zonderkids - Fall 2014) *''Pirates on the Farm - Illustrator''. Written by Denette Fretz. (Zonderkids - Summer 2013) *''Timeless Thomas: How Thomas Edison Changed Our Lives'' - Author/Illustrator. (Henry Holt & Co. - Summer 2012) *''The Bass Plays the Bass: A Book of Homographs – Author/Illustrator.'' (Henry Holt & Co. - Summer 2011) *''Neo Leo: The Ageless Ideas of Leonardo Da Vinci'' – Author/Illustrator. (Henry Holt & Co. - Fall 2009) *''Sheetzucacapoopoo: Max Goes to the Dogs – Illustrator.'' Written by Joy Behar. (Dutton – Spring 2009) *''Jack the Tripper'' (Harcourt - Fall 2008) *''Dear Deer: A Book of Homophones - Author/Illustrator.'' (Henry Holt & Co. - Fall 2007) *''Sheetzucacapoopoo: My Kind of Dog'' – Illustrator. Written by Joy Behar. (Dutton - Fall 2006) *''Now & Ben: The Modern Inventions of Benjamin Franklin'' - Author/Illustrator. (Henry Holt & Co. - Spring 2006)

TV and film

The Jim Henson Company The Jim Henson Company (formerly known as Muppets, Inc., Henson Associates, Inc., and Jim Henson Productions, Inc.; commonly referred to as Henson) is an American entertainment company located in Los Angeles, California. The company is known for ...

: Character Designer for projects such as, Tinseltown and The Late Night Buffet with Augie and Del. Storyboard artist on

Muppets from Space ''Muppets from Space'' is a 1999 American science-fiction film, science-fiction comedy film directed by Tim Hill (director), Tim Hill (in his List of directorial debuts, feature film directorial debut) and written by Jerry Juhl, Joey Mazzarino, Jo ...

. *

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Workshop until June 2000) a ...

: Animated, wrote and scored 5 short films for Seasons 28-29. *

PBS Kids PBS Kids is the brand for most of the children's programming aired by the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) in the United States. Some public television children's programs are not produced by PBS member stations or transmitted by PBS. Instead, ...

: Animated P-Pals Character & Animated Sequences Created, Character Design, Art Director *

Between the Lions ''Between the Lions'' is an American animated/live-action/puppet children's television series designed to promote reading. The show was a co-production between WGBH in Boston and Sirius Thinking, Ltd., in New York City, in association with Miss ...

: Illustrated five BTL books as well as several production illustrations.

Awards

*2017 - Carolyn W. Field Honor Book Award

Pennsylvania Library Association The Pennsylvania Library Association (PaLA) is the professional association for librarians in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It represents about 2,000 members affiliated with public, academic, special, and school libraries throughout the state, ...

for "Lincoln & Kennedy." *2013 - The Cook Prize Honor Title from

Bank Street College of Education Bank Street College of Education is a private school and graduate school in New York City. It consists of a graduate-only teacher training college and an independent nursery-through-8th-grade school. In 2020 the graduate school had about 65 full ...

for "Timeless Thomas: How Thomas Edison Changed Our Lives." *2007 - Carolyn Field Award for

for "Now & Ben."

Selected honors

*2021 - "The Secret Garden of George Washington Carver" nominated for a 2021 NAACP Image Award *2020 - "The Secret Garden of George Washington Carver" and "Muhammad Ali: A Champion is Born" included in Book Riot’s list of “52 Incredible Picture Book Biographies of Black People Creating and Learning.” *2020 - "The Secret Garden of George Washington Carver" included in Texas Bluebonnet Award Master List 2021-2022 *2020 - "The Secret Garden of George Washington Carver" included in SLJ article, “#BlackinSTEM: 17 Nonfiction Books That Spotlight Black Scientists, Thinkers, and Inventors.” *2019 - "The Secret Garden of George Washington" Carver awarded a Starred Review from Booklist *2019 - "The Secret Garden of George Washington Carver" awarded a Starred Review from School Library Journal *2017 - Children's Book Council included "Lincoln & Kennedy" on its 2017 NCSS Notable Social Studies Trade Books List! *2016 - Invited to speak twice at the 92Y in New York *2016 - "Sky High: George Ferris' Big Wheel" is nominated for a 2016 CYBIL Award *2016 - "Lincoln and Kennedy" is mentioned among the NY Public Library's list of 100 Best Kids Books of 2016. *2014 - "Now & Ben" included in Best Books for Grades 3-5 by WeAreTeachers.com *2014 - "Neo Leo" and "Timeless Thomas" chosen by Teaching Books for the 2014 Collaborative Summer Library Program themed "Fizz, Boom, Read!" *2013 - "Pirates on the Farm" receives a Starred Review from Publishers Weekly." *2013 - "Timeless Thomas" receives a Starred Review from Kirkus." *2013 - "Timeless Thomas" featured on the 2013 NEA Calendar." *2012 - "Zoola Palooza" included on 2012 IRA Teacher's Choice Reading List. *2011 - "Zoola Palooza" chosen among Amazon's Best Books of the Month for June. *2010 - NSTA/CBC Outstanding Science Trade Book for Students K-12 list for "Neo Leo." *2010 - Teacher's Choice Booklist by the International Reader's Association for "Neo Leo." *2009 - Scholastic Instructor's Magazine's "First-Rate Biographies" for "Neo Leo." *2008 - "Notable Children's Videos" by ALSC (American Library Assoc) for the DVD of "Now & Ben." *2008 - Notable Children's Book in the Language Arts by The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) for "Dear Deer." *2007 - CCBC Choices of 2007 "Now & Ben." *2007 - Best Children's Books of the Year list by the Children's Book Committee at the Bank Street College of Education for "Now & Ben." *2007 - Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young Readers by The National Council for Social Studies (NCSS) and the Children's Book Council for "Now & Ben." *2007 - Mom-Tested Books of the Year in "Parenting" magazine for "Dear Deer." *2006 - The New York Times Best Seller list – #3 for "Sheetzucacapoopoo: My Kind of Dog." *2006 - Book Sense Top Ten History Picks About The American Revolution for "Now & Ben."

References

NY Times: Timeless Thomas Review2021 NAACP Image Award Nominees

Kirkus: Secret Garden of George Washington Carver Review

External links

*
Gene Barretta MacMillan PageInterview with Gene BarrettaGene Barretta website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barretta, Gene 1960 births American children's writers American children's book illustrators Doane Academy alumni Living people Tisch School of the Arts alumni