Fortunately, very few samples of my early writing survived the eighteen moves I made before I was eighteen years old. I must have tried writing soon afterward. I know I began reading when I was four or five, because I couldn’t stand not being able to. When I was twenty, I wanted to get married and have lots of children.Īnother question I can’t answer is, “When did you begin writing?” I can’t remember. But when I was ten, I wanted to be either a movie star or a missionary. One is, “When did you first know that you wanted to become a writer?” The fact is that I never wanted to be a writer, at least not when I was a child, or even a young woman. People are always asking me questions I don’t have answers for.

Katherine currently resides in Vermont with her faithful dog, Pixie. The Patersons have four grown children and seven grandchildren. She was the 2010-2011 National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature. She is also a honorary lifetime member of the International Board of Books for Young People and an Alida Cutts lifetime member of the US section, USBBY. She is a vice-president of the National Children’s Book and Literacy Alliance and is a member of the board of trustees for Vermont College of Fine Arts. For the body of her work she received the Hans Christian Andersen Award in 1998, the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award in 2006, and in 2000 was named a Living Legend by the Library of Congress. The Master Puppeteer won the National Book Award in 1977 and The Great Gilly Hopkins won the National Book Award in 1979 and was also a Newbery Honor Book. She has twice won the Newbery Medal, for Bridge to Terabithia in 1978 and Jacob Have I Loved in 1981. Katherine Paterson is the author of more than 40 books, including 18 novels for children and young people.

Katherine paterson terabithia