I'm mostly influenced by life, what's around me, and my own childhood.

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.

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

A poet is not something you become; a poet is something you are.

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.

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

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