I'm very interested, in all my books, in community, what binds people together, which I think is an obvious consequence of being the fourth of six children.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
My books cover many aspects of daily life through which your children will recognize their own relationships in their families and communities.
With a family of six, there is always something to make, create and do together.
Looking back, I see that I write books about brothers and sisters, about what makes up a family, what works and what is nurturing.
There's something about being with a group of people who become like family that must be needed in society.
Books teach children to see the world through the eyes of others and empathise with others. It's about the story.
The outcome, the fourth in an issue of five boys born into a staunch Baptist home, meant that from the beginning I was taught to be respectful of others no less than myself, influencing ever since both my political and administrative attitudes.
I think having eight kids evens things out a bit. You learn about the world; you learn about the world; you learn you've got to get along. We're all - if anything - very adjustable.
I raised five children. They all have different personalities. All of them have different issues, different levels of success. That was a learning experience for me.
I think the sense of community that exists with all the characters - that's the answer. The fact that they have found a family in their friends. It does give some depth and meaning to their lives.
The child of three or four is saturated with adult rules. His universe is dominated by the idea that things are as they ought to be, that everyone's actions conform to laws that are both physical and moral - in a word, that there is a Universal Order.