I don't care whether the story is real or fantastical. I tell the story that needs to be told.

Be unpredictable, be real, be interesting. Tell a good story.

I think picture books should stretch children. I think they should be full of wonderful, amazing words.

I read everything aloud, novels as well as picture books. I believe the eye and ear are different listeners. So as writers, we have to please both.

In college, I wrote newspaper articles and songs. Then, on my 21st birthday, I sold my first book. It was a nonfiction book about women pirates - 'Pirates in Petticoats.' After that, I was a book writer for good.

Literature is a textually transmitted disease, normally contracted in childhood.