A highly acclaimed author of children’s books, Katherine Paterson’s works speak to young people through believable, true-to-life stories and well-developed characters. She has won many prestigious awards, including the Hans Christian Andersen Award, which recognized her lifetime contributions to children’s literature, and was awarded the Newbery Medal for both “Jacob Have I Loved” and “Bridge to Terabithia.”
(from her Living Legend Award page on Library of Congress site).

Katherine Paterson’s international fame rests not only on her widely acclaimed novels but also on her efforts to promote literacy in the U.S. and abroad. A two-time winner of the Newbery Medal and the National Book Award, she was the 1998 recipient of the Hans Christian Andersen Medal and was recently given the Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts by her home state of Vermont. Her latest novel for Clarion was The Same Stuff as Stars. She lives in Barre, Vermont, where part of this story takes place. Katherine Paterson is the recipient of the 2006 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, which celebrates her life’s work. For more infromation visit www.terabithia.com  (from Houghton Mifflin's author bio)

from her official website:
What would be your "words of wisdom" to a person who wants to write, but is paralyzed by failure? What advice would you give people starting out?
Paterson: When a teacher (still a dear friend) of mine in graduate school suggested I ought to be a writer, I was appalled. "I don't want to add another mediocre writer to the world," I said. She helped me (it took years of nudging) to understand that if I wasn't willing to risk mediocrity, I would never accomplish anything. There are simply no guarantees. It takes courage to lay your insides out for people to examine and sneer over. But that's the only way to give what is your unique gift to the world. I have often noted that it takes the thinnest skin in the world to be a writer, it takes the thickest to seek out publication. But both are needed—the extreme sensitivity and the hippo hide against criticism. Send your inner critic off on vacation and just write the way little children play. You can't be judge and creator at the same time.

according to Wickipedia:
Bridge to Terabithia has been adapted into film twice, the 1985 PBS version and the 2007 Disney/Walden Media co-production. One of the producers and screenwriters for the 2007 version is Paterson's son David L. Paterson, whose name appears on the dedication page of the novel "The Bridge to Terabithia".

Another of her novels, The Great Gilly Hopkins, was optioned by Christine Vachon's Killer Films in April 2008, and is expected to be released as a major motion picture in early 2009.[cit

Juvenile and young adult novels:
* Sign of the Chrysanthemum, 1973.
* Of Nightingales That Weep, 1974.
* The Master Puppeteer, 1975.
* Bridge to Terabithia, 1977.
* The Great Gilly Hopkins, 1978.
* Jacob Have I Loved, 1980.
* Rebels of the Heavenly Kingdom, 1983.
* Come Sing, Jimmy Jo, 1985.
* Park's Quest, 1988.
* Lyddie, 1991.
* Template:The Underground RailRoad,1992.
* Flip-Flop Girl, 1994.
* Jip, His Story, 1996.
* Preacher’s Boy, 1999.
* The Same Stuff as Stars, 2002
* Bread and Roses, Too, 2006

Picture books:
* The Angel and the Donkey, 1996.
* The King's Equal, 1996
* Celia and the Sweet, Sweet Water, 1998.
* Tale of the Mandarin Ducks, 1990.
* The Wide-Awake Princess, 2000.
* Blueberries for the Queen, 2004.

Awards for body of work
* NSK Neustadt Prize for Children's Literature 2007
* Astrid Lindgren Award for Lifetime Achievement 2006
* Literary Light, Boston Public Library 2000
* Living Legend Library of Congress 2000
* Hans Christian Andersen Medal for Writing 1998
* Lion of the New York Public Library 1998
* Who's Who in American Women 1995 to present
* King College, Outstanding Alumnus 1993-1994
* Education Press Friend of Education Award 1993
* Anne V. Zarrow Award, Tulsa Public Library 1993
* New England Book Award 1992
* US Nominee Hans Christian Andersen Award 1989
* Regina Medal, Catholic Library Association 1988
* Children's Literature Award, Keene State College 1987
* Kerlan Award, University of Minnesota 1983
* University of Southern Mississippi Medallion 1983
* Scott O'Dell Award for Children's Literature 1982
* US Nominee Hans Christian Andersen Medal 1979
* Who's Who in America 1978 to present
* The Union Medal, Union Theological Seminary New York