Katherine Womeldorf, the daughter of Presbyterian missionaries, was born on Oct. 31, 1932, in Qingjiang, China. Her family moved often throughout her youth, and books provided a source of continuity and comfort. After receiving a bachelor's degree from King College in Tennessee in 1954 and a master's degree from the Presbyterian School of Christian Education in 1957, she served as a missionary in Japan. In 1962, she married John Paterson, a minister she met while studying on fellowship at Union Theological Seminary in New York; they had two sons and adopted two daughters.

Feudal Japan served as the setting for Paterson's first two novels, ‘The Sign of the Chrysanthemum' (1973) and ‘Of Nightingales That Weep' (1974). ‘The Master Puppeteer' (1975), set in 18th-century Japan, won a National Book Award. She further exposed young readers to Japanese culture with her translations of the folktales ‘The Crane Wife' (1981), ‘The Tongue-Cut Sparrow' (1987), and ‘The Tale of the Mandarin Ducks' (1990). Among Paterson's historical fiction set in the United States is ‘Lyddie' (1991), a story about a millworker in 19th-century Massachusetts. ‘Jip: His Story' (1996), which takes place on a Vermont farm in the mid-1800s, won the Scott O'Dell Award in 1997.

Paterson received her first Newbery Medal in 1978 for ‘Bridge to Terabithia' (1977), a book set in modern-day America that deals with friendship and the strength to overcome tragedy. Paterson wrote it during a difficult time in her own life; she had just gone through a successful operation for cancer when her son's best friend was killed by lightning. Her next book, ‘The Great Gilly Hopkins' (1978), was a humorous story about a tough-as-nails foster child who finally meets a woman who knows how to reach her; it was chosen as a Newbery Honor Book in 1979 and also received a National Book Award. Paterson earned another Newbery Medal for ‘Jacob Have I Loved' (1980), a serious novel about overcoming sibling rivalry. Other contemporary publications included ‘Come Sing, Jimmy Jo' (1985) and ‘Flip-Flop Girl' (1994).

Christmas stories Paterson annually wrote for her husband's church services were published as the collections ‘Angels and Other Strangers' (1979) and ‘A Midnight Clear' (1995). She also wrote nonfiction books for adults on reading and writing children's literature.

Paterson was honored by the Child Study Association of America, the National Council for Social Studies, the International Reading Association, and several trade magazines. In 1987, she received the Adolescent Literature Assembly Award from the National Council of Teachers of English for her overall body of work. The following year, the Catholic Library Association presented her with the prestigious Regina Medal.