Mary E. Cronin’s poetry for young readers has been published in numerous anthologies, including Amazing Faces, Chasing Clouds, What is Hope? and Things We Do. In addition, you can read her poems for children in the online journals Tyger, Tyger and The Dirigible Balloon. Mary’s poetry for adults has been featured in Radical Teacher, Rise Up Review, Provincetown Magazine, and The New York Times.  She earned her MFA in Writing for Children from Vermont College of Fine Arts in 2011. 

Mary’s poetry picture book about firefighting, Trucks, Boots, and Bells: Firehouse Poems, will be published by Holiday House in 2026. Mary’s picture book biography of PFLAG founder Jeanne Manford, Like a Mother Bear, will be published by Atheneum/Simon & Schuster in 2027. 

Mary became a reader and writer in the Bronx, NY; she now lives and teaches on Cape Cod in Massachusetts. As a former K-3 Literacy Coach, she is grounded in current classroom curricula and literacy practice, and is a frequent speaker and presenter. She was selected as an inaugural member of NCTE’s This Story Matters Teacher Corps, a national group of educators responding to book challenges and bans. As the daughter of a firefighter and granddaughter of an immigrant nurse, Mary is dedicated to shining a light through her writing on unsung heroes and the work they do to knit together their communities. Mary is a dedicated 5 a.m. writer; that’s when the Irish tea and the words flow.

Ten Questions for Mary E. Cronin

Where do you live?
I live on Cape Cod, a peninsula that curves out into the ocean in Massachusetts. It’s a place filled with beautiful beaches, cranberry bogs, and small towns. 

Where did you grow up?
Until the age of 12, I lived in the Bronx, New York, in a busy neighborhood where we could hear the rumble of the elevated trains go by many times a day. My family lived in a fourth-floor walk-up apartment… very different from my life on Cape Cod!

What was your first job?
Beyond babysitting, my first job was working at a Carvel ice cream stand. I got very good at making the perfect swirl on a soft-serve ice cream cone, and I even invented my own sundae based on my favorite Girl Scout cookie!

What games did you like to play when you were a kid?
We did not have computer games, so we mainly played outside. That meant jump rope, roller skating, and sidewalk games with a ball or bottle caps. I loved double Dutch!

What’s your favorite color?
All shades of blue, from bright blue to sky blue to turquoise.

What are your favorite foods?
I like a lot of different foods, including pasta, mango, and salad… and cake and ice cream for dessert!

Where do you get your ideas for stories and poems?
My ideas come from all different places. My dad’s job as a firefighter has inspired many stories and poems. My grandmother was a nurse, and quite often a nurse will pop up in one of my stories. So my family is a big inspiration! Also, my work in education has inspired me. I meet amazing kids in all sorts of classrooms… and sometimes they inspire a character, a story idea, or a poem!

What are your favorite places to visit?
I love to go to New York City, Ireland, California, and Puerto Rico.

Do you have any pets?
I have one small dog named Daisy. She’s funny because she does not really like leash walking, but she loves going for car rides. 

What is your idea of a perfect morning?
I like to wake up early, so my perfect morning would be spent drinking some tea, writing a poem or a story, and then going for a bike ride followed by a morning swim. Oh, and after all that, I’d go to a bookstore or library!