After I won the Newbery Medal for 'From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler,' children all over the world let me know that they liked books that take them to unusual places where they meet unusual people.
Interpretation
Books can transport readers to unique worlds and introduce them to interesting characters.
E. L. Konigsburg emphasizes the power of literature to engage children's imaginations by taking them to extraordinary settings and allowing them to encounter fascinating characters. Winning the Newbery Medal reinforced her belief in the importance of storytelling that challenges the norms and intrigues young minds, showing that readers appreciate adventures in unexpected places with distinctive individuals.
In practice
This quote can inspire a reading program aimed at encouraging children to explore diverse literature.
The essential problems remain the same... The kids I write about are asking for the same things I wanted. They want two contradictory things. They want to be the same as everyone else, and they want to be different from everyone else. They want acceptance for both.
I'm not sure that love and like aren't like cats and dogs: One can't grow up to be the other, but they can be taught to live under the same roof.
I think most of us are outsiders. And I think that's good because it makes you question things.
Art comes from a visceral need and is usually generated by something I have seen; writing comes from something that happens in my head and my heart.
Every now and then, a person must do something simply because he wants to, because it seems to him worth doing. And that does not make it worthless or a waste of time.
Finish. The difference between being a writer and being a person of talent is the discipline it takes to apply the seat of your pants to the seat of your chair and finish. Don't talk about doing it. Do it. Finish.
I suppose books mean more than people to me anyway
We can be reluctant to recognize how much of our culture was literary, particularly now that so many of the institutional purveyors of literature happily have joined in proclaiming its death. A substantial number of Americans who believe they worship God actually worship three major literary characters: the Yahweh of the J Writer (earliest author of Genesis, Exodus, Numbers), the Jesus of the Gospel of Mark, and Allah of the Koran.
For a lot of readers these days, a book is something you have to agree or disagree with. But you can't agree with a novel. For my generation, it was assumed that a book is a dramatic thing, that the eye of the book is not telling you what to think.
You may translate books of science exactly. ... The beauties of poetry cannot be preserved in any language except that in which it was originally written.
Only in books has mankind known perfect truth, love and beauty.
The problem with fiction, it has to be plausible. That's not true with non-fiction.
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