Margaret "Peggy" Hodges was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 writer

Writer

A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....

 of books for children.

She was born Sarah Margaret Moore in Indianapolis, Indiana

Indianapolis, Indiana

Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...

 to Arthur Carlisle and Annie Marie Moore. She enrolled at Tudor Hall

Park Tudor School

Park Tudor School is a private, coeducational, nondenominational school for grades junior kindergarten through 12 in the Meridian Hills neighborhood of Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. Park Tudor was created with the 1970 merger of Tudor Hall School for Girls and Park School...

, a college preparatory school for girls. A 1932 graduate of Vassar College

Vassar College

Vassar College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college in the town of Poughkeepsie, New York, in the United States. The Vassar campus comprises over and more than 100 buildings, including four National Historic Landmarks, ranging in style from Collegiate Gothic to International,...

, she arrived in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...

 with her husband Fletcher Hodges Jr.

Fletcher Hodges Jr.

Fletcher Hodges, Jr. was a leading American expert on the music of Stephen Collins Foster, who was known as the "father of American music."...

 when in 1937 he became curator at the Stephen Foster Memorial

Stephen Foster Memorial

The Stephen Collins Foster Memorial is a performing arts center, museum and archive at the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA....

. She trained as a librarian at Carnegie Institute of Technology

Carnegie Institute of Technology

The Carnegie Institute of Technology , is the name for Carnegie Mellon University’s College of Engineering. It was first called the Carnegie Technical Schools, or Carnegie Tech, when it was founded in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie who intended to build a “first class technical school” in Pittsburgh,...

, now Carnegie Mellon University

Carnegie Mellon University

Carnegie Mellon University is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States....

, under Elizabeth Nesbitt, and she volunteered as a storyteller at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh

Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh

The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh is the public library system in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Its main branch is located in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, and it has 19 branch locations throughout the city...

. Beginning in 1958 with One Little Drum, she wrote and published more than 40 books. She also wrote the book John F. Kennedy Voice of Hope. In the 1960s she did a storytelling segment for Fred Rogers' children's television show at WQED

WQED (TV)

WQED is a Public Broadcasting Service member Public television station based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Established April 1, 1954, it was the first community-sponsored television station in the United States as well as the fifth public TV station...

.

Her 1985 book Saint George and the Dragon

Saint George and the Dragon (book)

Saint George and the Dragon is a book written by Margaret Hodges and illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman. Released by Little, Brown, it was the recipient of the Caldecott Medal for illustration in 1985. The text is adapted from Edmund Spenser's epic poem The Faerie Queene....

, illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman

Trina Schart Hyman

Trina Schart Hyman was an American illustrator of children's books. She illustrated over 150 books, including fairy tales and Arthurian legends, and was the recipient of three Caldecott Honors and one Caldecott Medal....

, won the Caldecott Medal

Caldecott Medal

The Caldecott Medal is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children , a division of the American Library Association, to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children published that year. The award was named in honor of nineteenth-century English...

 of the American Library Association

American Library Association

The American Library Association is a non-profit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with more than 62,000 members....

. What's for Lunch, Charley? and Merlin and the Making of the King are two of her other well-known works.

She was a professor of library science at the University of Pittsburgh

University of Pittsburgh

The University of Pittsburgh, commonly referred to as Pitt, is a state-related research university located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded as Pittsburgh Academy in 1787 on what was then the American frontier, Pitt is one of the oldest continuously chartered institutions of...

, where she retired in 1976.

Hodges died of heart disease December 13, 2005 at her home in Oakmont, Pennsylvania

Oakmont, Pennsylvania

Oakmont is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, USA. It is a Pittsburgh suburb and part of the Pittsburgh Metro Area. The population was 6,303 at the 2010 census....

. She suffered from Parkinson's disease

Parkinson's disease

Parkinson's disease is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system...

.

She wrote her stories on a notepad or a typewriter. "I need good ideas, and they don't come out of machines," she once said.