And that's why any of my picture books exist: They all seem to be built backwards from a simple, emotionally optimistic story beat.

I will go to my grave in a state of abject endless fascination that we all have the capacity to become emotionally involved with a personality that doesn't exist.

My post-child period resulted in one instant change: I write shorter books for kids.

Doonesbury had the requisite and overwhelming influence in 1980, as it did on any college cartoonist who was paying attention, of course.

Negative humor is forgotten immediately. It's the stuff that makes us feel better about our lives that lives long. Much more satisfying. Enter children's books.

I grew up in Los Angeles and always wished I'd spent a childhood in a far different place.