Judi Barrett
Judi Barrett is an American author and art teacher most well known for her picture books for children, including Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and Animals Should Definitely Not Wear Clothing.
Biography
She grew up in Brooklyn NY, and later attended the Pratt Institute, where she earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in advertising design in 1962. After graduating from Pratt, Barrett worked as a freelance designer for advertising agencies before pursuing a career in education. She began teaching art and woodworking to young children in 1968 and continued to teach and study at various institutions. Barrett took graduate courses on early childhood education at the Bank Street College of Education, studied painting and pottery at the Brooklyn Museum, and taught painting to children at the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art.While attending the Pratt Institute in the 1960s, met the illustrator Ron Barrett and soon after got married. The Barretts collaborated on their first two books, Old MacDonald Had an Apartment House and Animals Should Definitely Not Wear Clothing.
Their most famous work, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, was created after their separation in 1978. The book tells the story of a town where food falls from the sky like rain and has since become a beloved classic. The book was adapted into an animated film in 2009 and a sequel in 2013.
She now teaches at The Berkeley Carroll School located in Brooklyn NY and continues writing children’s novels.