Background

Jama Rattigan was born on November 20, 1951 in Honolulu, Hawaii, United States, into the family of James Young Nam and Margaret (Yang) Kim.

Education

Jama Kim Rattigan studied at the University of Hawaii, where she received a Bachelor of Arts in 1973 and a Master of Arts in 1975.

Career

Jama Kim Rattigan moved to Virginia in the early 80's. There she began writing full time. Rattigan’s first award-winning story, Dumpling Soup, features Marisa, a seven-year-old girl living in Hawaii with her family, who are a blend of Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Hawaiian, and Anglo ancestry.

Truman’s Aunt Farm, Rattigan’s second book for children, plays off the pun on “ant” throughout the story as a boy who sends away for an ant farm instead finds dozens of “aunts” arriving on his doorstep. Rattigan returned to the setting of Hawaii for her third picture book, The Woman in the Moon.

In addition to the children's books, she has published stories and articles in such magazines as Girlhood Home Companion, Highlights for Children, Crayola Kids, Humpty Dumpty, Children's Digest, Cobblestone, Hopscotch, Aloha, Country Home, and Country Living. Currently, she visits schools, presents writing workshops, and tutors on a voluntary basis for the Literary Council of Northern Virginia.

Achievements

• Jama Kim Rattigan, a children's picture book author, is noted for her works celebrating Hawaiian life.

Works

More photos

• book

  • The Woman in the Moon: A Story from Hawai'I

    (Because of her extraordinary imagination and skill, Hina,...)

    1996
  • Truman's Aunt Farm

    (Truman's request for an ant farm gets him an aunt farm, s...)

    1994
  • Dumpling Soup

    (Marisa gets to help make dumplings this year to celebrate...)

    1998

Views

Most of Jama Kim Rattigan's stories are in one way or another connected with her childhood and feature strong female characters.

Quotations: “I grew up in the small rural town of Wahiawa, on the island of Oahu in Hawaii. Since both our parents worked, my older brother and 1 had to fend for ourselves much of the time. The library was safe, nearby, and offered answers to many of our questions. I was happy as long as I had a book to read."

“In school I always liked Language Arts. I felt most comfortable with anything that involved words — spelling, reading, grammar, composition. My first published story was a fourth grade field trip report included in the PTA newsletter. In high school I wrote poetry, and in college I took a lot of writing classes. Writing seemed to follow me around no matter what I did."

“The Hawaii I grew up in was small but it contained people from almost every ethnic group in the world. People had no choice but to learn to get along with each other. Today, different languages, customs, foods, and traditions all blend together to make Hawaii a unique and fascinating place.”

Membership

• Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators

• Author’s Guild

• Wolf Trap Associates

• World Folk Music Association

• International Wizard of Oz Club

Interests

• travel, antiques, interior decorating, music, films, reading, bird watching, letter writing, collects teddy bears, character watches, stationery, rubber stamps

Connections

Jama Kim Rattigan married a civil engineer Leonard Rattigan on September 2, 1978.

Father:

James Young Nam Kim

Mother:

Margaret (Yang) Kim

Spouse:

Leonard Rattigan

Brother:

Newton Kim