Occupation: Author Birth: October 31, 1932
When people ask me what qualifies me to be a writer for children, I say I was once a child. But I was not only a child, I was, better still, a weird ….
The difference between writing a story and simply relating past events is that a story, in order to be acceptable, must have shape and meaning. It is….
...I just gave up trying to be a Christian... Let's face it, I ain't got the knack for holiness. Besides, I didn't have the slightest little desire t….
As much pleasure as young people get from Twittering and texting, there is no way these activities will nourish their minds and spirits the way liter….
We can read the paper or current magazines and learn about national and world events, think about controversial subjects, learn how to disagree respe….
Reading has made such a profound difference to my life. I'm sure I became a writer because of the power of literature in my own life..
The last dregs of winter spoiling the taste of everything..
It's such a thrill when an adult comes up to me and says, 'I read your book as a child and really loved it.' That's a tremendous compliment..
I think if a book has the power to move a reader, it also has the power to offend a reader. And you want your books to have power, so you just have t….
Mandarin ducks mate for life and will die of loneliness if separated from their chosen mate..
Trouble can always be borne when it is shared..
The world that is in me is the only world I have by which to grasp the world outside and as I write fiction, it is the chart by which I must steer..
Many people are angry when they make a mistake, but very few people have the sense to be sorry..
Hope ... is not a feeling; it is something you do..
This is what art is all about. It is weaving fabric from the feathers you have plucked from your own breast. But no one must ever see the process - o….
All of us can think of a book... that we hope none of our children or any other children have taken off the shelf. But if I have the right to remove ….
I woke up one morning and realized that what I wanted to say to everyone - children, young people, adults - was: Read for your life..
I am called to listen to the sound of my own heart -- to write the story within myself that demands to be told at that particular point in my life. A….
Death is very mysterious to us. One moment someone is there with us, and the next moment they're not..
I know a movie and a book are two different things and you are going do different media in different ways. No author can want a movie to be exactly l….
When my husband died, people kept telling me not to cry. People kept trying to help me to forget. But I didn't want to forget. [...] So I realize, th….