Katharine Holabird, American author best known for her Angelina Ballerina and Twinkle series, celebrates her birth date as Jan. 28, 1948, in Cambridge, Mass.

The second of four daughters born in her family and raised in Chicago, Katharine loved to perform and dance with her three sisters. She has architects and artists in her family background. As a child, she loved making up stories and reading books about animals such as “Black Beauty” and “Charlotte’s Web.” She knew early on she wanted to be a writer and enjoyed her childhood pets, including a raccoon and an owl.

She graduated from Bennington College in Vermont with a BA in Literature, where she studied literature and creative writing. She married Michael Haggiag a year later, moved to London and did freelance writing and worked as a nursery school teacher. She became the mother of three children, Tara, Alexandra and Adam. As she watched her two little daughters twirl around in their pink tutus, she decided to write a book about Angelina Ballerina.

Angelina Ballerina was published in 1983, followed by Angelina and the Princess a year later. Katharine was one of many authors, including JK Rowling, invited to attend the Queen’s 80th birthday party at Buckingham Palace.

“Angelina Ballerina” (who illustrator Helen Craig created as a mouse)won The Kentucky Blue Grass Award in 1985 an award chosen by schoolchildren of Kentucky. Thirty-four years later in 2019, it won the Northern Lights Book Award “Time Honored” category, proving Angelina had truly become a classic children’s character.

After many years in London, Katharine and Michael now live in New York City.

Our library has her “Angelina Ballerina” (B-2) book.