Kay Chorao was born as Ann McKay Sproat in Elkhart, Indiana, into a middle-class, suburban family. As a child, she loved to draw. In 1958 she received a Bachelor of Arts in Art History from Wheaton College. After graduating, she went to Chelsea School of Art from 1958-1959. She married and had three children, then moved to New York City with her family. She studied book illustration at School of Visual Arts in New York from 1966-1968. Her first book, The Repair of Uncle Toe, was published in 1972. Since then, she has written and illustrated more than fifty books. In 1975, she illustrated Albert's Toothache by Barbara Williams. The book was critically successful, being given the American Library Association's notable book citation and Children's Book Showcase title. In 1979, her 1974 book Ida Makes a Movie was adapted into a short film by the same name. In 1988, she published Cathedral Mouse, which was well-received by critics and featured among the ten best children's picture books of the year, by New York Times.
