Katharine Holabird grew up in a family of architects and artists in Chicago. As a child, she lived in an imaginary world of fairy tales, princesses, and ballerinas, and loved to perform and dance with her sisters. She wrote the first Angelina Ballerina at the kitchen table with her daughters twirling around her. Katharine has three grown children and three grandchildren, and now lives in New York City with her husband.