Katharine Holabird
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Katharine Holabird (born January 23, 1948) is an American writer, best known as the author of the ''
Angelina Ballerina ''Angelina Ballerina'' is a children's book series by author Katharine Holabird and illustrator Helen Craig about a fictional mouse (full name Angelina Jeanette Mouseling) who is training to become a ballerina. The first book in the series was ...
'' series, illustrated by
Helen Craig Helen Craig (born 30 August 1934) is an English children's book illustrator and writer. She is best known for creating the Angelina Ballerina series of children's books with writer Katharine Holabird. Craig was born in London, evacuated duri ...
, and the ''Twinkle'' series, illustrated by Sharon Williams.


Early life and education

Born in
Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...
, the second of four daughters, Holabird grew up in an artistic home in
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
, and her family spent many summers in
Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...
. In 1969, she received a B.A. in literature from
Bennington College Bennington College is a private liberal arts college in Bennington, Vermont. Founded in 1932 as a women's college, it became co-educational in 1969. It claims to be the first college to include visual and performing arts as an equal partner in ...
in
Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...
and then worked at
Bennington College Bennington College is a private liberal arts college in Bennington, Vermont. Founded in 1932 as a women's college, it became co-educational in 1969. It claims to be the first college to include visual and performing arts as an equal partner in ...
as a literary editor for a year after her graduation.


Career

Holabird then found herself in Italy as a freelance journalist where she met her husband, Michael Haggiag. The two married in 1974 and moved to
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, where she continued to write and worked at a nursery school. She has two daughters, Tara and Alexandra. Later, Holabird met
Helen Craig Helen Craig (born 30 August 1934) is an English children's book illustrator and writer. She is best known for creating the Angelina Ballerina series of children's books with writer Katharine Holabird. Craig was born in London, evacuated duri ...
, a London photographer and artist whose illustrations have been inspired by her childhood in rural England. Over the next few years, Craig illustrated several mini-books with mice, and Holabird provided some of the text. In 1983, her third child, Adam, was born. In 1983, Holabird's first children's book, ''
Angelina Ballerina ''Angelina Ballerina'' is a children's book series by author Katharine Holabird and illustrator Helen Craig about a fictional mouse (full name Angelina Jeanette Mouseling) who is training to become a ballerina. The first book in the series was ...
'', was published. Her son Adam was her inspiration for the character Henry, and Angelina's character was inspired by her daughters' love for dressing up and dancing. Holabird wrote the first draft of ''Angelina Ballerina'' at the kitchen table with her daughters dancing around her. In fact, the Angelina books were originally about a girl, but then Craig drew a mouse, and Holabird loved it. "The impulsive character of Angelina came alive," says Holabird, "and seemed to pirouette off the page with enthusiasm and energy, while her plump and ebullient body expressed drama and attitude in every twitch of her tail." Angelina is a very emotional character; she is sensitive and often bursts into tears right before offering an apology. She struggles with her conscience but always ends up doing the right thing—which is very familiar to many young children. The universal childhood themes in Angelina include friendship, jealousy, loyalty, & dedication. As a child, she was an avid reader who loved fairy tales and stories about heroic animals, and she frequently saw ballets like ''
Cinderella "Cinderella",; french: link=no, Cendrillon; german: link=no, Aschenputtel) or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a folk tale with thousands of variants throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsi ...
'' and ''
Swan Lake ''Swan Lake'' ( rus, Лебеди́ное о́зеро, r=Lebedínoye ózero, p=lʲɪbʲɪˈdʲinəjə ˈozʲɪrə, link=no ), Op. 20, is a ballet composed by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1875–76. Despite its initial failur ...
'' with her grandmother. The young, imaginative Holabird loved animals, playing in her tree house, and dancing with her sisters. When reflecting on her childhood, she said: "TV hadn't become a fixture in every home, and we created our own imaginative world." She graduated high school from the Francis Parker School in realistically portray the difficulties of growing up. According to Holabird, it is a ballerina book for "all the passionate little dancers and performers in the world," including her own two daughters, which is why she "decided to explore the impulsive, highly emotional character of a small but determined ballerina." The first American edition of ''Angelina Ballerina'' was published in 1984. A year later, Holabird received the Kentucky Bluegrass Award for ''Angelina Ballerina''. In 1986 and 1987, she received the ALA Notable Book Awards. ''Angelina's Christmas'' was selected as Child Study Association's Children's Book of the Year in 1987. The following year, Holabird and Craig published ''Alexander and the Dragon'', their first Alexander book, aimed at preschool children who want to be consoled about bedtime monsters. In 1990, Holabird wrote the Alexander sequel, ''Alexander and the Magic Boat'', which portrays a strong mother/son relationship while the two go on a voyage to imaginary worlds. Also in 1990, Holabird received the British Book Design and Production award. In 1999,
HIT Entertainment HIT Entertainment Limited (commonly written as HiT) was a British-American entertainment company founded in 1982 as Henson International Television, the international distribution arm of The Jim Henson Company, by Jim Henson, Peter Orton, and Soph ...
in
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
(known for ''
Thomas the Tank Engine Thomas the Tank Engine is an anthropomorphised fictional tank locomotive in the British ''Railway Series'' books by Wilbert Awdry and his son, Christopher, published from 1945. He became the most popular and famous character in the series, a ...
'', ''
Bob the Builder ''Bob the Builder'' is a British animated children's television series created by Keith Chapman for HIT Entertainment and Hot Animation. The series follows the adventures of Bob, a building contractor, specialising in masonry, along with hi ...
'', and ''
Barney Barney may refer to: People and fictional characters * Barney (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Barney (surname), a list of people Film and television * the title character of ''Barney & Friends'', an American live actio ...
'') secured the rights for ''Angelina Ballerina'' and commissioned Grand Slamm Children's Films to make an animated TV pilot. HIT also developed a lot of Angelina merchandise. Angelina made her worldwide television debut in 2001 on
CITV CITV (short for Children's ITV, also known as the CITV Channel) is a British free-to-air children's television channel owned by ITV plc. It broadcasts content from the CITV archive and acquisitions, every day from 6 am to 9 pm which ...
in the United Kingdom. Actress
Finty Williams Tara Cressida Frances "Finty" Williams (born 24 September 1972) is an English actress. Life Williams was born on 24 September 1972 in London, the only child of Judi Dench and Michael Williams. Williams trained at the Central School of Speech an ...
is the voice of Angelina, and her mother,
Judi Dench Dame Judith Olivia Dench (born 9 December 1934) is an English actress. Regarded as one of Britain's best actresses, she is noted for her versatile work in various films and television programmes encompassing several genres, as well as for her ...
, is Miss Lilly. In 2002, the Angelina series premiered on
PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...
Kids TV in the United States. ''Angelina Ballerina's Invitation to the Ballet'' received the prestigious Oppenheim Platinum Award in the U.S. in 2004. That same year, Angelina was named the official spokesperson of
National Dance Week National Dance Week (NDW) is an annual event in the United States sponsored by the United Dance Merchants of America to increase public awareness and appreciation of various forms of dance.{{cite journal, first = Carolyn B., last = Maloney, date= ...
in the United States. In 2005, Angelina made her debut on
PBS Kids Sprout Universal Kids is an American children's television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming unit of Comcast's NBCUniversal. The channel launched on September 26, 2005, as PBS Kids Sprout, a preschool-oriented channel jointly ...
, a 24-hour digital television channel for preschoolers in the U.S. Holabird was honored in 2006 with an invitation to Queen Elizabeth's 80th birthday party at
Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a London royal residence and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and royal hospitality. It ...
. That same year, the entire series of Angelina books was reissued by Grosset and Dunlap in the United States. Also in 2006, The Angelina Ballerina Dance Academy debuted with special Angelina ballet classes across England. ''Angelina's Star Performance'', an original ballet based on ''Angelina at the Palace'', debuted in 2007 in
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
with the
English National Ballet English National Ballet is a classical ballet company founded by Dame Alicia Markova and Sir Anton Dolin as London Festival Ballet and based in London, England. Along with The Royal Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet, Northern Ballet and Scottish ...
. Holabird is hoping to release a new theatrical pop-up Angelina book in 2008. Together, Holabird and Craig have now published a total of ten Angelina books and two Alexander books. Overall, the Angelina books have been translated into more than 20 languages. Holabird speaks English, French, Italian, and a bit of Spanish. Her favorite books are '' Charlotte's Web'', ''
Black Beauty ''Black Beauty: His Grooms and Companions, the Autobiography of a Horse'' is an 1877 novel by English author Anna Sewell. It was composed in the last years of her life, during which she was bedridden and seriously ill.Merriam-Webster (1995). ...
'', and the ''
Harry Potter ''Harry Potter'' is a series of seven fantasy literature, fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the lives of a young Magician (fantasy), wizard, Harry Potter (character), Harry Potter, and his friends ...
'' series. She writes in a blue room with a scenic view upstairs in her London home, and it usually takes her six to eight weeks to write an Angelina book. After that, each book goes to
Helen Craig Helen Craig (born 30 August 1934) is an English children's book illustrator and writer. She is best known for creating the Angelina Ballerina series of children's books with writer Katharine Holabird. Craig was born in London, evacuated duri ...
for at least three months to be illustrated; then it goes to the publisher and is usually published nine months later. Her most recent work, ''Twinkle'', is about a child fairy that goes to the Fairy School for Music and Magic. The series was written by Holabird and illustrated by Welsh artist Sharon Williams.


References


External links


KatharineHolabird.com – official websiteAuthor Information: Katharine Holabird
Internet Book List. {{DEFAULTSORT:Holabird, Katharine 1948 births Living people American children's writers American expatriates in the United Kingdom Writers from Boston Writers from Chicago Writers from London Bennington College alumni Francis W. Parker School (Chicago) alumni