I hope children will be happy with the books I've written, and go on to be readers all of their lives.

The purpose of our lives is to be happy.

I didn't start out writing to give children hope, but I'm glad some of them found it.

I want my ex-wife and children to be happy.

I feel sometimes that [in children's books] there are more and more grim problems, but I don't know that I want to burden third- and fourth-graders with them. I feel it's important to get children to enjoy reading.

I haven't been very enthusiastic about the commercialization of children's literature. Kids should borrow books from the library and not necessarily be buying them.