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Mary Ann Hoberman

1930–2023
Headshot of poet Mary Ann Hoberman outdoors.
Lois Dreyer

Mary Ann Hoberman was born in Stamford, Connecticut. She earned a BA in history from Smith College and (35 years later) an MA in English literature from Yale University. She cofounded and performed with both “The Pocket People,” a children’s theatre group, and “Women’s Voice,” a group giving dramatized poetry readings. But ever since her first book was published in 1957, her primary occupation has been writing for children.

Hoberman is the author of roughly 50 books, all but one of which is in verse. Her first book of poems, All My Shoes Come in Two’s, was illustrated by her husband. Some of her best-known titles are A House is a House for Me, The Seven Silly Eaters, and The Llama Who Had No Pajama, a collection of one hundred of her favorite poems. Her poems have been widely anthologized and her books have been translated into several languages. She is the recipient of a National Book Award and the 2003 Poetry for Children Award of the National Council of Teachers of English. A former volunteer with Literacy Volunteers of America, Hoberman made literacy one of her primary concerns, writing the best-selling You Read to Me, I’ll Read to You series. She has taught from elementary through college levels and visits schools and libraries nationwide, sharing her poems and the joys of reading.

Hoberman served as the Poetry Foundation's children's poet laureate from 2008 to 2011. She lives in Greenwich, Connecticut with her husband Norman, an architect and sculptor, in a house that he designed. They have four children and five grandchildren.

Poems by Mary Ann Hoberman
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Bibliography

CHILDREN'S BOOKS

  • All My Shoes Come in Two's,illustrated by Norman Hoberman, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1957.
  • How Do I Go?, illustrated by Norman Hoberman, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1958.
  • Hello and Good-by,illustrated by Norman Hoberman, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1959.
  • What Jim Knew, illustrated by Norman Hoberman, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1963.
  • Not Enough Beds for the Babies,illustrated by Helen Spyer, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1965.
  • A Little Book of Little Beasts, illustrated by Peter Parnall, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 1973.
  • The Looking Book, illustrated by Jerry Joyner, Knopf (New York, NY), 1973.
  • The Raucous Auk, illustrated by Joseph Low, Viking (New York, NY), 1973.
  • Nuts to You and Nuts to Me, illustrated by Ronni Solbert, Knopf (New York, NY), 1974.
  • I Like Old Clothes, illustrated by Jacqueline Chwast, Knopf (New York, NY), 1976.
  • Bugs, illustrated by Victoria Chess, Viking (New York, NY), 1976.
  • A House Is a House for Me, illustrated by Betty Fraser, Viking (New York, NY), 1978.
  • Yellow Butter, Purple Jelly, Red Jam, Black Bread: Poems,illustrated by Chaya Burstein, Viking (New York, NY), 1981.
  • The Cozy Book,illustrated by Tony Chen, Viking (New York, NY), 1982.
  • Mr. and Mrs. Muddle,illustrated by Catharine O'Neill, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1988.
  • A Fine Fat Pig, and Other Animal Poems,illustrated by Malcah Zeldis, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 1991.
  • Fathers, Mothers, Sisters, Brothers: A Collection of Family Poems,illustrated by Marilyn Hafner, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1991.
  • (Editor) My Song Is Beautiful: Poems and Pictures in Many Voices,Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1994.
  • The Cozy Book,illustrated by Betty Frazer, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1995.
  • One of Each,illustrated by Marjorie Priceman, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1997.
  • The Seven Silly Eaters,illustrated by Marla Frazee, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 1997.
  • The Llama Who Had No Pajama,illustrated by Betty Fraser, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 1998.
  • Miss Mary Mack: A Hand-Clapping Rhyme,illustrated by Nadine Bernard Westcott, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1998.
  • And to Think That We Thought We Would Never Be Friends,illustrated by Kevin Hawkes, Crown (New York, NY), 1999.
  • The Marvelous Mouse Man,illustrated by Laura Forman, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 1999.
  • The Eensy-Weensy Spider,Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 2000.
  • There Once Was a Man Named Michael Finnegan,Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 2001.
  • You Read to Me, I'll Read to You: Very Short Stories to Read Together,Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 2001.
  • It's Simple, Said Simon,illustrated by Meilo So, Knopf (New York, NY), 2001.
  • Bill Grogan's Goat,Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 2002.
  • The Marvelous Mouse Man,illustrated by Laura Forman, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 2002.
  • The Looking Book,illustrated by Laura Huliska-Beith, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 2002.
  • Right Outside My Window,illustrated by Nicholas Wilton, Mondo (New York, NY), 2002.
  • Whose Garden Is It?, illustrated by Jane Dyer, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 2004.

Also author of adaptation of Mary Had a Little Lamb, Little, Brown (New York, NY), 2003, and Yankee Doodle, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 2004.