I can't bear to be on a train without a book", she announced. " It's a form of self-defence in a way" .

The people I see from my window. In the huts, in the distance. They're all dressed the same.' 'Ah, those people,' said Father, nodding his head and smiling slightly. 'Those people...well, they're not people at all, Bruno.' Bruno frowned. 'They're not?' he asked, unsure what Father meant by that.

Just because a man glances up at the sky at night does not make him an astronomer, you know.

Their lost voices must continue to be heard.

War today is such a more visible thing. We see it on television, on CNN. In 1914, war was a concept.

Unless you're very boring, I think most people who've lived long enough have something in their past which will never go away. As a writer, my interest has become in writing about much more emotional, personal topics. I'm trying to reach into subjects I have never written about before.

Children's book writers tend to feel quite superior, and adult writers tend to feel they wouldn't know how to write a children's book - which might surprise you because I think a lot of people think it's the other way around.