Angelina and Henry

Katharine Holabird is an American writer, best known as the author of the Angelina Ballerina series.As a child, Holabird was an avid reader who loved fairy tales and stories about heroic animals, and she frequently saw ballets like Cinderella and Swan Lake with her grandmother The young, imaginative Holabird loved animals, playing in her tree house, and dancing with her sisters 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 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 In 1983, her first children s book, Angelina Ballerina, was published Holabird s 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 Holabird s goal was to 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 it is 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 in London known for Thomas the Tank Engine, Bob the Builder, and Barney 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 in the United Kingdom In 2002, the Angelina series premiered on PBS 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 in the United States In 2005, Angelina made her debut on PBS Kids Sprout, a twenty four hour digital television channel for preschoolers in the U.S.