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I have never met an author who did not read voraciously as a child.

The children of great authors do not, as a rule, become writers.

I've seen a range of children's personalities, so it's easier to write about them without patronising them, I think.

As a children's author, you get to advocate for reading and writing in general, in a way an adult author might not be able to. It's a really interesting dance we do to get literature into the hands of young people and to help them to become literate and become readers; we want them to grow up reading and continue to do so when they're adults.

It seems to me that not only the writing in most children's books condescends to kids, but so does the art. I don't want to do that.

Many children's writers don't have children of their own.

Children will often write, 'We love your books because there are no adults in them.'

In my experience, adults rarely bother reading the reviews of children's books and almost never read the books themselves - particularly if they don't have children.

I never wrote my books especially for children.