The Day of the Pelican

About Katherine Paterson

Katherine Paterson’s international fame rests not only on her widely acclaimed novels but also on her efforts to promote literacy in the U.S. and abroad. A two-time winner of the Newbery Medal and the National Book Award (The Great Gilly Hopkins and The Master Puppeteer), she was the 1998 recipient of the Hans Christian Andersen Medal and was given the Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts by her home state of Vermont. She lives in Barre. Her most recent novel for Clarion was Bread and Roses, Too. She is also the recipient of the 2006 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, which celebrates her life’s work. In 2010, Katherine succeeded Jon Scieszka as the national ambassador for young people's literature today, a joint appointment by the Library of Congress's Center for the Book and Every Child a Reader, a nonprofit group affiliated with the Children's Book Council.