Caldecottmedalist Peggy Rathmann was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, and grew up in the suburbs with two brothers and two sisters. Ms. Rathmann graduated from Mounds View High School in New Brighton, Minnesota, then attended colleges everywhere, changing her major repeatedly. She eventually earned a B.A. in psychology from the University of Minnesota. She studied commercial art at the American Academy in Chicago, fine art at the Atelier Lack in Minneapolis, and children'sbook writing and illustration at the Otis Parsons School of Design in Los Angeles. The resulting book,Ruby the Copycat, earned her the ""Most Promising New Author"" distinction inPublishers Weekly's 1991 annual Cuffie Awards. In 1992 she illustratedBootsie Barker Bites for Barbara Bottner, her teacher at Otis Parsons. A homework assignment produced an almost wordless story,Good Night, Gorilla, inspired by a childhood memory. That story, however, was only nineteen pages long, and everyone agreed that the ending was a dud. Two years and ten endings later,Good Night, Gorilla was published and recognized as an ALA Notable Children's Book for 1994. The recipient of the 1996 Caldecott Medal,Officer Buckle and Gloria, is the story of a school safety officer upstaged by his canine partner. Rathmann lives and works in San Francisco, in an apartment she shares with her husband, John Wick, and a very funny bunch of ants.