Katherine Hannigan Biography

Born 1987, B.F.A (painting), 1997; Rochester Institute of Technology, M.F.A (painting), 1991.

Addresses

Agent—c/o Author Mail, Greenwillow Press/HarperCollins Childrens, 1350 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10019.

Career

Educator and writer. Head Start, former education coordinator; instructor at Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY, Buffalo State College, Buffalo, NY, and Niagara County Community College, Sanborn, NY; Iowa State University, Ames, instructor in drawing, then assistant professor of art and design, 2001–c.04; full-time writer.

Honors Awards

Book Sense Book-of-the-Year Honor Book designation, Best Book of the Year designations from School Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, and Child magazine, and Gold Award, Parents's Choice, all 2005, all for Ida B … and Her Plans to Maximize Fun, Avoid Disaster, and (Possibly) Save the World.

Writings

Ida B … and Her Plans to Maximize Fun, Avoid Disaster, and (Possibly) Save the World, Greenwillow Press (New York, NY), 2004.

Adaptations

Ida B … and Her Plans to Maximize Fun, Avoid Disaster, and (Possibly) Save the World was adapted as an audiobook read by Lili Taylor, Books on Tape, 2004.

Work in Progress

Two stories for middle-grade readers.

Sidelights

Growing up in western New York, Katherine Hannigan was constantly surrounded by books, as well as by the rodents adopted as family pets and a succession of stray cats and dogs. With a vivid imagination, she developed a knack for creating stories involving playthings, such as a pair of clay figures she manipulated from behind her second-grade pop-up desk; paper characters cut from Valentine's Day cards; and the dolls populating her closet and who starred in Hannigan's early theatrical performances. Continuing to draw on that imagination as an adult, Hannigan is the author of the entertaining middle-school novel Ida B … and Her Plans to Maximize Fun, Avoid Disaster, and (Possibly) Save the World.

Before beginning her writing career, Hannigan studied art in New York and obtained bachelor's and master's degrees in painting. After teaching in upstate New York for several years, she moved west, teaching art and design at Iowa State University. While in Iowa, Hannigan once again found inspiration in her surroundings, and she began to develop the title character for her first children's book. Ida B … and Her Plans to Maximize Fun, Avoid Disaster, and (Possibly) Save the World was still in its draft stage when Hannigan decided to take a writing workshop conducted by children's author Kate DiCamillo in 2002. After Hannigan submitted a chapter from her unpublished work and won the praise of the veteran author, DiCamillo passed along the manuscript to a literary agent and the novel was published by Greenwillow Books in 2004. Ida B … and Her Plans to Maximize Fun, Avoid Disaster, and (Possibly) Save the World became a New York Times bestseller and won numerous accolades from critics.

In an interview with an online BookBrowse contributor, Hannigan noted that her title character, Ida B, was developed from "a love of laughter," and "a fondness for Cover of Katherine Hannigan's Ida B … and Her Plans to Maximize Fun, Avoid Disaster, and (Possibly) Save the World, featuring artwork by Dana Tezarr. (Text copyright © 2004 by Katherine Hannigan. Jacket art © 2004 by Dana Tezarr/Potonica. Dana Tezarr/Photonica/Getty Images. Published by Greenwillow Books.)people with a good dose of puckishness in them." Ida B, is indeed, a distinctive and "unforgettable heroine," as School Library Journal contributor Faith Brautigam noted, while a Publishers Weekly critic dubbed her a "firecracker of a character." In the book nine-year-old Ida B speaks to the trees and the brooks that surround her family farm and spends the majority of her free time making arts and crafts. Home-schooled throughout her life, she is accustomed to freedom and tranquility. Things drastically change, however, when her mother develops cancer and her parents decide to sell a portion of the family's apple grove—which also happens to be Ida B's playground—to help pay medical bills. Matters are exacerbated when Ida B is sent to public school, but it is at this point that the girl decides to deal directly with the changes taking place around her. As pressures mount, she becomes an embittered nine year old and feels as if everything in her life has betrayed her.

Reviewing Ida B … and Her Plans to Maximize Fun, Avoid Disaster, and (Possibly) Save the World, critics hailed Hannigan for her ability to realistically portray the mind-set of a nine year old. Faith Brautigam, writing in School Library Journal, noted that "Ida B is a true character in every sense of the word." Likewise, Booklist contributor Ilene Cooper commented on Han-nigan's ability to fully capture "the fury children can experience" and "the tenacity with which they can hold on to their anger." Another tactic Hannigan employs can be seen in the resolution of the story, as Ida B begins to appreciate the changes in her life. Horn Book contributor Susan Dove Lempke stated that Hannigan "skillfully depicts the slow climb back … where Ida B can allow herself to express happiness again."

With her skills in characterization, plot, storyline, and writing style, Hannigan impressed many critics. Cooper noted in Booklist that the writer "gets it down brilliantly," while a Publishers Weekly reviewer regarded Ida B … and Her Plans to Maximize Fun, Avoid Disaster, and (Possibly) Save the World as an "insightful, seemingly intuitive first novel." In a similar fashion, a Kirkus Reviews critic noted that the book is a "funny debut from a promising new author," while Lempke described Hannigan as "clearly an author to watch."