Angelina Ballerina and the Fancy Dress Day

Born in Massachusetts, USA, Katharine Holabird worked as a literary editor in Rome before she married and moved to London. It was while she was there, working as a nursery school teacher and living in the midst of her two little girls’ love of ballet, that Katharine Holabird collaborated with Helen Craig, to bring the character of Angelina to life. Since its first release in 1983, the Angelina Ballerina series has won the Kentucky Bluegrass Award (1985), British Book Design and Production Award (1990) and Child Study Association’s Children’s Book of the Year (1990). In 2001, HIT Entertainment gave Angelina Ballerina its television debut as a 26-part series, with Dame Judi Dench providing the voice for ballet teacher Miss Lilly.