About Audrey Penn

Audrey Penn is an American children's writer. She is best known for writing The Kissing Hand, a picture book featuring anthropomorphic raccoons.

Audrey Penn grew up in Silver Spring, Maryland. Audrey Penn didn’t start off her career as a writer. Penn, in the 1970s, was a ballerina dancer dancing for the New York City Ballet, Danny Diamond Dance Theatre, Stuttgart Ballet, and the National Ballet. Between 1973 and 1976 she was a choreographer for the US Figure Skating team for the Pan American Games and the 1976 Olympic Gymnastics Team. Penn's first book was Happy Apple Told Me. In 1980, after developing Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis, Penn was too ill to continue with ballet. Due to many painful surgeries and not being able to walk for weeks led her to write more books like Blue Out of Season and No Bones About Driftiss. Penn currently resides in Maryland with her husband and their three children.