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Drawing was a cheap way for me to express myself. It gave a focus to my thinking and my life from a very early age.

I wrote a lot. I was in programs for drawing when I was a kid.

Somehow I started introducing writing into my drawings, and after a time, the language took over and I started getting very involved with the handwriting and then the look of the handwriting.

I learned to read very early so I could read the comics, which I then started to draw.

I grew up in a house full of books and parents who read, which led to me to reading from a very young age. And reading seemed to naturally progress to writing.

I started writing books for children because I could illustrate them myself and because, in my innocence, I thought they'd be easier.

As a child. I grew up on a small farm, so I did a lot of drawings of animals, chickens and people. At the bottom of every page, I'd put a strange scribble. I was emulating adult handwriting, though I didn't actually know how to write.

Reading and writing are connected. I learned to read very early so I could read the comics, which I then started to draw.

Growing up, I enjoyed drawing, but it was always in the service of an idea. I drew all the time, and I enjoyed making.

From an early age, I had always loved drawing. Laying on the floor, in front of the fire, drawing from my imagination, marching soldiers, dive bombers, spaceships and monsters. Now, suddenly, I was drawing from real life!