The sound of a word is at least as important as the meaning.

There's not too much difference between writing a picture book and writing a collection of a hundred poems or so, except that the bigger books take a lot longer to do.

Children seem naturally drawn to poetry - it's some combination of the rhyme, rhythm, and the words themselves.

The BALLPOINT PENGUINS, black and white, Do little else but write and write. Although they've nothing much to say, They write and write it anyway.

I write the poems first, with only a few exceptions for odd reasons, where I'm given the illustration first.

My wife used to tell me one of my best qualities was that my feet don't smell, but I remember my brother's did when we were kids.

Writing gives me the opportunity to explore ideas, play with language, solve problems, use my imagination, and draw on my own childhood.