Dorothy Kunhardt was an American children's-book author, best known for the baby book Pat the Bunny

Pat the Bunny

Pat the Bunny is a "touch and feel" book for small children and babies and has been a perennial best-seller in the U.S. since its publication in 1940...

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She was also a historian and writer about the life of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...

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Personal life

The daughter of historian Frederick Hill Meserve, she was married to Philip B. Kunhardt, Sr. They had four children: Nancy Kunhardt Lodge, Philip B. Kunhardt, Jr., Kenneth Kunhardt, and Edith Kunhardt. She is the grandmother of Peter Kunhardt

Peter Kunhardt

Peter W. Kunhardt is a documentary film-maker who produces shows for HBO, PBS, and other U.S. television networks. He started Kunhardt Productions, Inc. which produced "JFK: In His Own Words," HBO "Bobby: In His Owns Words" HBO "Lincoln" ABC, "P.T. Barnum" Discovery "Justice Files" Discovery and...

. Philip Jr. authored The Dreaming Game,a biography of his mother.

Works

Kunhardt wrote nearly 50 books, including one of the bestselling children's books of all time, Pat the Bunny, which has sold over six million copies. Other works include the well known Twenty Days, an account of Lincoln's assassination and the twenty days that followed, which she wrote with her son, Philip B. Kunhardt, Jr.; Tiny Animal Stories; The Telephone Book; Lucky Mrs. Ticklefeather; Brave Mr. Buckingham; Junket is Nice (1933); Wise Old Aard-Vark (1936); and Now Open the Box.