I was born in Philadelphia and currently live in Minneapolis. I write for both children and adults..

When I was a kid I loved to read, but I didn't write and I didn't create imaginary worlds. So, if one student walks away thinking, "She's obviously j….

I would hesitate to say the characters [ in Bink & Gollie] are too related to either to us [me and Alison McGhee], but they certainly draw on our phy….

It's a weird kind of disconnect that this whole story [he Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane] grew around a real doll of mine, and here he is, with ….

I have not Googled myself. I have not looked at myself on Amazon. It could drive you wild..

I think I'm succinct to the point of trying to write the two-word novel. Editing my work almost never means taking anything out but rather adding, be….

I am busier now than I ever imagined I would be, but I feel blessed in that I have found what I am supposed to be doing with my life. It's wonderful ….

My father leaving the family shaped who I was and how I looked at the world. By the same token, my father telling me fairy tales that he had made up ….

I've never worked with a co-author before [Alison McGhee]. Writing for me is a pretty scary thing, so it was a huge comfort to have someone in the ro….

There's a Buddhist precept that the only thing you deserve is the chance to do the work, and I've been given the chance to do the work..

I hate to cook and love to eat..

The funny thing is, when I've gone through the relentless editing process, my editor and I are amazed the Mercy Watson books still make us laugh. The….

But, reader, there is no comfort in the word "farewell," even if you say it in French. "Farewell" is a word that,in any language, is full of sorrow. ….

There ain't no point in making soup unless others eat it. Soup needs another mouth to taste it, another heart to be warmed by it..

They were always on the move.But in truth said bull we are all going nowhere.

I don't think about being a celebrity..

Don't drop him," said Peter's mother to his father. "Don't you dare drop him." She was laughing. "I will not," said his father. "I could not." For he….

I like to think of myself as a storyteller..

Everything I write comes from my childhood in one way or another. I am forever drawing on the sense of mystery and wonder and possibility that pervad….

Despereaux marveled at his own bravery. He admired his own defiance. And then, reader, he fainted..

I'm not exactly sure how old the girls are [in Bink & Gollie], but I can pretty much guarantee that their parents will never show up. That would mess….