Peggy Rathmann

Margaret Crosby "Peggy" Rathmann In early elementary school, she was often seated in the back of the room to avoid her blocking the view of other students, but she could not see the board because she was near-sighted. "I remember the teacher talking about the alphabet and thinking, 'What alphabet?'"

Rathmann attended Mounds View High School, and then the University of Minnesota, graduating with a degree in psychology. She planned to become a doctor, enrolling in medical school at Macalester College.

As part of an assignment, Rathmann wrote her first picture book, Ruby the Copycat (1991). Following its publication, she was awarded Most Promising New Author in Publishers Weekly'''s 1991 Cuffie Awards. Rathmann then illustrated Bootsie Barker Bites (1992), written by her instructor Barbara Bottner. Upon receiving news of the award, Rathmann got into bed and "waited to die of embarrassment", fearing that critics would "expose, ridicule, and then crucify" her. Eventually she was able to appreciate the honor.

She wrote Ten Minutes till Bedtime (1998) and The Day The Babies Crawled Away (2003), which made the Horn Book Magazine's annual Fanfare List. In 2014, Good Night, Gorilla was a runner-up for the Phoenix Picture Book Award from the Children's Literature Association, which annually recognizes the best picture book that did not win a major award 20 years earlier. "Books are considered not only for the quality of their illustrations, but for the way pictures and text work together."

Beliefs and work habits Rathmann takes at least nine months to write each of her books, and finds the writing more difficult than the illustrations. She struggles in the editing stages: "It kills me! I used to call my editor and try to give the money back. I'd say, 'Look, I'm sorry, but I'm giving you the money back. Trust me, you don't want this book it's not working.'" She continued: "Then they'd cut me some slack, and I'd work on it for a few more months." Rathmann cites Maurice Sendak as an influence, and described him as making "good books for bad children". Other influences include Dr. Seuss and A.A. Milne.

Books

Rathmann has illustrated at least seven picture books, six of which she also wrote. Ruby the Copycat (Scholastic, 1991), Bootsie Barker Bites, written by Barbara Bottner (G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1992), Good Night, Gorilla (Putnam, 1994), Officer Buckle and Gloria (Putnam, 1995), 10 Minutes till Bedtime (Putnam, 1998), The Day the Babies Crawled Away (Putnam, 2003), How Many Lambies on Grammy's Jammies? (Putnam, 2006),

Several translations have been published. Gute Nacht, Gorilla (2006) was named "Book of the Month" for September 2006 by the German Institut für Jugendliteratur (young people's literature).