Katharine Holabird

Katharine Holabird (born January 23, 1948) is an American writer, best known as the author of the Angelina Ballerina series, illustrated by Helen Craig, and the Twinkle series, illustrated by Sarah Warburton.

Early life and education Born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the second of four daughters, Holabird grew up in an artistic home in Chicago, and her family spent many summers in Michigan. In 1969, she received a B.A. in literature from Bennington College in Vermont and then worked at Bennington College 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, where she continued to write and worked at a nursery school. She has two daughters, Tara and Alexandra. Later, Holabird met Helen Craig, 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, was published. 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 with the English National Ballet. 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, and the Harry Potter 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 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 Sarah Warburton.