When I began writing, I didn't read any other children's poets... I didn't want to be influenced until I'd found my own voice. Now I read them all.

Otherwise I don't read much adult poetry at all, because I'm not smart enough and mostly I don't get it.

His blood is black and boiling hot, he gurgles ghastly groans. He'll cook you in his dinner pot, your skin, your flesh, your bones.

Then I decided to draw from and on my own imagination, and everything came out perfect.

I would go to sketch groups and draw. I really enjoyed the subject matter, but I wasn't good at it.

Frankly, writing poetry for children is plain old fun, and I consider myself blessed to have such a delightful career.

My reading is extremely eclectic. Lately I've been teaching myself computer graphics, so I'm reading a lot about that. I read books of trivia, of facts.