I was an only child; I didn't have a sister, or sisters.

I have lovely memories of Los Angeles in the 1930s. I came down to live with my mother's cousin and they invited me to come and go to junior college for a year.

I don't necessarily start with the beginning of the book. I just start with the part of the story that's most vivid in my imagination and work forward and backward from there.

Otis was inspired by a boy who sat across the aisle from me in sixth grade. He was a lively person. My best friend appears in assorted books in various disguises.

I don't think children's inner feelings have changed. They still want a mother and father in the very same house; they want places to play.

I write in longhand on yellow legal pads.

I had a very wise mother. She always kept books that were my grade level in our house.