Katharine Holabird |
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Katharine Holabird is the joint creator, with Helen Craig, of the enduringly popular Angelina Ballerina books.
THE BASICS
Born: Cambridge, Massachussetts, USA, January 23rd 1948
Jobs: Editor, nursery school teacher, freelance journalist, writer.
Lives: North London
First Book: Angelina Ballerina, 1983
THE BOOKS
Katharine Holabird grew up in Chicago at a time when “TV hadn’t become a fixture in every home, and we created our own imaginative world”. The second of four daughters, she loved to dress up and dance with her sisters, pretending to be beautiful ballerinas. Annual invitations to the ballet with her grandmother made a deep impression. “It was thrilling to see real performances of Cinderella, The Nutcracker and Swan Lake.” Katherine remembers, “I was absolutely spellbound.” Katharine was also an avid reader with a particular liking for tales of heroic animals and equally courageous children. “I loved the secret world of books,” says Katharine, “and was delighted to discover I could create characters and worlds of my own.”
While studying literature at Bennington College in Vermont, Katharine was encouraged by her professor, “Write,” they said, “Just keep writing and don’t give up.” After graduating, she worked as a literary editor for a year. Then she traveled to Italy on a holiday, and made an impulsive decision to stay in Rome and learn Italian. In Rome she began working for the movie industry magazine Variety. “The pay was awful,” Katharine remembers, “but it was a great apprenticeship. I visited movie locations, interviewed actors like Dirk Bogarde and Marcello Mastroanni, and wrote at length. What a shock when my glorious text was edited down to nothing and I had to rewrite every word. I’ve never forgotten what I learned at Variety – always be prepared to rewrite.”
In 1974, Katharine married and moved to London, where she found work as a nursery school teacher. The young schoolchildren gave Katharine “a wonderful introduction to London”, along with classic English children’s books such as Alfie and The Tiger Who Came to Tea. Teaching boisterous children in London was the perfect prelude to the birth of Katharine’s first daughter in 1976.
Katharine was the mother of two young daughters when, with artist Helen Craig, she created Angelina Ballerina in 1982. “My little girls and their friends reminded me of my childhood enthusiasm for dance. They were completely mad about ballet, and I was struck by the daily drama of their lives, both in and out of ballet classes. The courage and determination it takes to be a small performer impressed me, as did all the emotional upheavals that take place behind the scenes. Whispered secrets, disappointment and jealousy, stage fright and tears while yearning to be a little star, are all part and parcel of a theatrical child’s everyday life. I wanted to write something especially for all the passionate little dancers and performers in the world, and decided to explore the impulsive, highly emotional character of a small but determined ballerina.”
When she first wrote about Angelina, Katherine envisaged her character as a little girl, but when artist Helen Craig showed her the first drawings of Angelina as a mouse, it worked perfectly. “The impulsive character of Angelina came alive,” says Katharine, “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.
The award-winning Angelina Ballerina books are a great way for children to explore important issues such as friendship, rivalry, loyalty and dedication.
“Angelina’s experiences are pretty universal,” Katharine says, “and I think children like to read about someone who can lose her temper and then struggles to get over it and apologize. They certainly know how Angelina feels! After all, most children don’t find growing up particularly easy, and there’s not much point in a pretty picture book that doesn’t reflect the emotional issues they’re dealing with everyday.”
Katharine writes from a room in her London home, with a view of trees, birds and sky. “When my children were young, writing time was precious, so I mostly wrote during school hours and after their bedtime (although I remember constant interruptions and hot little fists rapping on the door).” Now that Katharine’s three children are grown up, she has more leisure to write. Nevertheless, it’s important to her to remain in close touch with young people. “There’s an awful lot going on when children play together, and I guess it’s the mixture of comedy and tragedy on the mini-stage of childhood that still fascinates me.”
The Angelina Ballerina books have been translated into 6 languages.
Autumn 2001 will see the eagerly anticipated TV debut of Angelina Ballerina, in an animated 26-part series, created by HIT Entertainment. Dame Judi Dench provides the voice for ballet teacher Miss Lilly, while her daughter Finty Williams plays Angelina herself.
WHAT THEY SAY ABOUT KATHARINE HOLABIRD AND ANGELINA BALLERINA...
“A white mouse with a penchant for pirouettes is poised for stardom.”
The Mirror
AWARDS
Kentucky Bluegrass Award 1985 for Angelina Ballerina
British Book Design and Production Award 1990 for Angelina’s Birthday
Child Study Association’s Children’s Book of the Year 1990 for Angelina’s Christmas
PLACE & DATE OF BIRTH:
Cambridge, Mass. USA 23/01/1948
FAVOURITE BOOK:
Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White
FAVOURITE SONG:
Over the Rainbow
MOST TREASURED POSSESSION:
A sense of humour.
FAVOURITE FILM:
The Wizard of Oz
When did you start writing?
I could never do maths, but I loved reading and writing at school, and wrote silly stories and poems whenever I got the chance. My sisters and I once ‘published’ our own horse magazine, which we spent ages writing and illustrating together. I studied literature and writing in college in Vermont, and was a journalist in Rome for a year and then a freelance writer when I came to London. Things didn’t always go smoothly though, and there were a lot of frustrations along the way. I just kept trying, and was very lucky to meet Helen Craig and have the chance to work on a children’s storybook with her. Being a writer is a solitary profession, but if you enjoy observing the world around you and using your imagination, and if you write about things you care about, then writing can become very satisfying. I starting writing the Angelina Ballerina storybooks in 1982, when I was 34. By then I had two little dancing girls of my own, and had been writing for fifteen years.
Where do you get your ideas and inspiration from?
On a good day, ideas and inspiration can be found anywhere. Sometimes you can wake up with a great idea, or a brilliant inspiration just magically arrives while you’re doing the washing up. Other times you have to be patient and wait. My three children are grown up now, but I like to remember all the crazy things they used to get up to, and have funny memories of escapades with my sisters when I was a child. When I was a nursery school teacher in London I learned a lot from observing children. Any playground or schoolroom or kitchen where children are buzzing around is bound to be inspiring for a writer. I’ve been writing about Angelina since 1983, and she really has a life of her own now. When I begin a new story I start thinking about what Angelina would say or how she would react in certain situations – and she tells me!
Can you give your top 3 tips to becoming a successful author?
1. Look!
2. Listen!
3. Write from the heart.
Favourite memory?
Riding holidays with my children in the Cotswolds.
Favourite place in the world and why?
Italy. The best ice cream and spaghetti anywhere, and people who think singing and dancing is the most natural thing in the world.
What are your hobbies?
Reading books, walking in the park with my two dogs, pottering around in my garden, cooking, and playing tennis.
If you hadn’t been a writer what do you think you would have been?
When I was a little girl I also had dreams of becoming a lovely ballerina, but I was never very graceful, and couldn’t do pirouettes and leaps quite like Angelina. I’ve always been soppy about animals and children, and when I was a teenager I wanted to be a vet and train beautiful horses. Looking back, I think I would have continued to teach children if I hadn’t been so busy with three children of my own. Being a mother is the hardest and best thing I’ve done, and I’m glad I was at home while my children were growing up – even if it meant being a short-order chef with less time for writing.
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