Angelina and the author

Jennifer K Mahal

When Katharine Holabird first wrote about Angelina, she imagined a

little girl. Instead, she got a mouse, courtesy of illustrator Helen

Craig.

“Angelina Ballerina,� a story about a mouse who wants to become a

dancer, has spawned a series of books and an animated show since its

publication in 1983.

Holabird, a Chicago native who lives in London, will appear Saturday

at the White Rabbit in South Coast Plaza to sign copies of the books,

including “Angelina Ice Skates� and “Angelina and the Princess.�

The author and mother of three, who holds a bachelor’s degree in

literature from Bennington College in Vermont, answered e-mailed

questions about her work and inspiration.

What inspired you to make Angelina and her family mice?

I wrote “Angelina Ballerina� about a little girl, and never imagined

she’d become a mouseling! However, when Helen Craig showed me her first

drawings of a little dancing mouse with a flamboyant tail and an impish

grin, there was no doubt that this was the true spirit of Angelina. This

mouseling’s tail and whiskers always show her innermost feelings, and she

can do stupendous pirouettes around the kitchen in her pink tutu!

What dream did you have as a child and how did your parents help

to facilitate it?

I grew up in a wooden house in Chicago with three sisters. Every

Christmas our parents took us to “The Nutcracker� ballet, and of course I

wanted to be a ballerina. My parents were theater buffs who loved books

and painting, so it was natural for us to read and draw and dance around

the house like sugar plum fairies.

Later I became totally horse-obsessed, and even though my mother was

terrified of horses, we all learned to ride. This was probably when the

first glimmer of literary aspiration began -- I used to scribble horse

stories and pictures with my sisters, and we created our own

Horse-Lover’s Magazine.

How did you meet illustrator Helen Craig?

I met Helen in London in the late ‘70s, when she was a single parent

trying to become an illustrator and I was a young mother with two little

girls trying to become a writer. It was certainly a serendipitous

encounter.

We became friends and Helen encouraged me to write my first children’s

storybook. I sat at the kitchen table and wrote a rough draft of

“Angelina Ballerina,� then Helen made up a “dummy� book to show to

publishers.

What is your favorite children’s book? Why? When was the first time

you read it?

I must have first read “Charlotte’s Web� when I was about 10and

passionate about animals. I was enchanted by the story of Charlotte the

kindly spider and the lonely pig Wilbur, and I still am.

“Charlotte’s Web� had a tremendous impact on me. I wanted to be just

like E.B. White’s protagonist, Fern, and understand animals and their

secret language.

As a little girl, I [also] adored picture books: Dr. Seuss for his

zany humor, Margaret Wise-Brown for her loving wisdom, Grimm’s Fairy

Tales for the way they sparked my imagination, and many others.

“Angelina Ballerina� and your other books all incorporate lessons

for children (and adults). What is the most important lesson that you

would like to get across to your audience?

Angelina is a strong character who feels things very passionately and

sometimes makes big mistakes. I want children to realize that everyone

has strong feelings and that it’s OK to make mistakes. Nobody ever

learned anything from being perfect.

Do your children (now grown) have or did they have a favorite book

of yours? Did you read them your stories pre-publication?

Tara and Alexandra are now young adults, but “Angelina Ballerina� was

written for them when they were tiny ballerinas, and was certainly

brilliantly researched by them. Almost every book I’ve written features

themes and issues that we talked about and lived through as a family,

sometimes very intensely! (Our youngest is a boy, Adam.)

Coping with jealousy (“Angelina’s Baby Sister�), bullying (“Angelina

and Alice�) and resentment of siblings (“Angelina at the Fair�) is part

of everyone’s childhood, and my stories often came from the real dramas

in my children’s lives. I often read the girls what I was writing, and

they’ve become excellent critics.

With so many children reading your books and seeing Angelina on

television, you must have quite a number of fans. Do you have any stories

about children (or parents) who have come up to you or letters you have

received?

One of the best things about being a children’s writer is talking to

children. I sometimes bring Angelina with me to schools and ask the

children to help me make up an Angelina story. This always leads to

interesting discussions, zany ideas and wild plots, and a thoroughly

fresh and delightful story.

The father of a charming little girl once told me that he’d read some

of the Angelina books so many times he knew them by heart -- this really

touched me.

Did you put on plays and dances when you were a child? What plays

did you do?

Besides impromptu and lengthy ballet performances, my sisters and I

scripted our own melodramas and acted out anything romantic, from

“Cinderella� to the “Adventures of Robin Hood.� I always loved to tell

stories and would launch into original monologues at the dinner table,

which was pretty hard on everyone else.

We also invented backyard horse shows, and my knees have still not

recovered from our spectacular “show jumping� events.

What’s next for Angelina?

Helen and I have just completed a new book, “Angelina and Henry,� in

which Angelina shows her bravery on a wild adventure in the Big Cat

Mountains.

Are there any questions that you always wanted to be asked -- and

to answer?

What was the inspiration for Angelina?

Even though very few of us grow up to be dancers, we all love to

dance, and children are naturals. Most children adore performing too, and

can’t resist being center stage. Angelina was inspired by two of these

passionate little performers, my daughters Tara and Alexandra, who

entertained us for years and enriched our lives beyond measure.

FYI

* WHAT: Katharine Holabird signs “Angelina Ballerina�

* WHERE: The White Rabbit, South Coast Plaza, 3333 Bristol St., Costa

Mesa

* WHEN: 3 p.m. Saturday

* COST: Free

* INFORMATION: (714) 445-0010 or www.whiterabbit-childbooks.com