An inspiration for children's books

Like many children, Katharine Holabird's daughters loved to dance when they were young.

"Tara was a real little diva and wore her pink tutu everywhere, and Alexandra energetically followed in her footsteps," Holabird said in a recent e-mail interview from her London home.

Inspired by her daughters' passion as well as their "strong personalities," Holabird created a children's picture book featuring a plucky white mouse whose desire to dance creates havoc in her small house until her parents wisely send her off for ballet lessons.

Holabird showed the book to her friend Helen Craig, an illustrator with whom she had collaborated on two previous books. Craig loved the story, so she developed some illustrations for it and then took it to her publishers.

Published in 1983, "Angelina Ballerina" (Viking, $13.99) was a hit with young readers and their parents, who loved the young mouse's spunk and energy. Delighted with their success, Holabird and Craig began to collaborate on further "Angelina" adventures.

Over the years, they have produced 13 books in the main series. The latest, "Angelina Star of the Show," will be released in June, while a special 25th anniversary edition of the original "Angelina Ballerina" will be published in September.

Those books, however, are just the core of a publishing and merchandising empire built around the tiny mouse. There are spinoff series -- one for beginning readers and another called "Angelina's Diary" for readers ready for chapter books -- as well as various novelty books. Altogether, there are more than 60 "Angelina" titles in 18 languages.

There are also various products, including dolls, bikes, games and, of course, tutus. In 2001, Angelina made her TV debut in England; a year later, the series began airing in the United States on PBS. (Five years before her TV debut, Angelina was the star of a popular audiocassette, "Angelina Ballerina and Other Stories," recorded by actress Sally Struthers. Now out of print, used copies of this entertaining cassette are available on Amazon.com.)

The Angelina Ballerina Dance Academy was created in England in 2006 to offer Angelina-themed classes to young dancers. In 2007, the English National Ballet created a production around Angelina titled "Angelina's Star Performance." Next year, HIT Entertainment plans to air a new "Angelina Ballerina" television series.

Holabird still can't believe how her young ballerina character has danced into the hearts of so many millions of young readers.

"Helen Craig and I had no idea that 'Angelina Ballerina' would be the start of such a long series, nor did we ever imagine that she would inspire such lovely animation and mouse merchandise," she said.

Writing and dancing comes naturally to Holabird, one of four sisters who grew up in Chicago's Lincoln Park section. Her father was an architect, and her mother was an actress at Chicago's Second City.

"... We all loved to dress up and dance around the house -- much encouraged by my theatrical mother!" Holabird recalled, noting that her grandmother took the girls on an annual visit to the ballet.

Holabird also was an avid reader, particularly fantasy stories and books starring heroic animals. "Even as a child I wanted to be a writer, but it wasn't until I had my own children that I became a children's writer," she said.

In 1969, Holabird graduated from Bennington College in Vermont with a bachelor's degree in literature. Moving to Italy in the early 1970s, Holabird worked as a freelance journalist before meeting her husband, Michael Haggiag. They married in 1974 and moved to London in 1980. Holabird's daughter Tara was born in 1976, followed three years later by Alexandra. A son, Adam, was born in 1983 and became the inspiration for Angelina's young cousin, Henry, whose antics hold particular appeal for boy readers.

Holabird wrote "Angelina Ballerina" at her kitchen table as her daughters twirled about her.

"I thought about all the young children who are thrilled by performing and dancing, just like my daughters, and sat down to write about a small start with enormous dreams," Holabird writes on her Web site, www.katharineholabird.com.

"Before long, the impulsive and highly emotional character of Angelina leapt onto the page."

Holabird believes that Angelina's popularity with young readers stems from the fact that she is "very emotional, as many young children are. Small children identify with Angelina because she often makes mistakes and gets carried away, but she truly wants to do her best -- just like them!" She adds: "I am absolutely thrilled that Angelina has become an international star, particularly because she inspires little girls to get up and dance and follow their dreams."