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I read a whole lot as a child, and, of course, I still read children's books.

I think it's so important for young readers to find a book or series that ignites their passion for reading, especially boys, whose interest in reading wanes as they grow older.

Of course the success of A Boy's Own Story took me utterly off guard.

I didn't belong to the sort of family where the children's classics were laid on. I went to the public library and read everything I could get my hands on.

I was a very avid reader when I was a child, and I also was a good listener.

Although I could read before I went to school, and I won the school reading prize at five years old, my early children's stories came from the radio and watching films at a cinema on Saturday mornings in Australia. It wasn't until I was nine years old on a ship returning from Australia that I was introduced to children's books.

I found reading Alan Bennett striking because you have this sudden flash of recognition when you read about a boy who has intellectual interests utterly different from his parents.

I have written, probably, more books for children than any other writer, from story-books to plays, and can claim to know more about interesting children than most.

I was always a big reader, mostly because my parents were.

I have frequently gained my first real insight into the character of parents by studying their children.