[4] Gannett's first novel, My Father's Dragon, was published by Random House in 1948[2] and was a runner-up for the annual Newbery Medal recognizing the year's "most distinguished contribution" to American children's literature.
The books were illustrated by Ruth Chrisman Gannett, her stepmother,[3][a] and the typography was designed by her husband, H. Peter Kahn.
[5] Gannett wrote two other short children's novels, The Wonderful House-Boat-Train (1949) and Katie and the Sad Noise (1961), illustrated by Fritz Eichenberg and Ellie Simmons.
[6] Ruth Gannett married artist, art history professor,[7] and calligrapher H. Peter Kahn (1921–1997).
[7] She lived in Trumansburg, New York, close to Cornell University, where Peter Kahn was employed for forty years.