A good writer is always a people watcher.

Another thing all writers have in common is we're all observers. We pay attention to detail.

Books opened up a whole new world to me. Through them I discovered new ideas, traveled to new places, and met new people. Books helped me learn to understand other people and they taught me a lot about myself. ... Some books you never forget. Some characters become your friends for life.

I think people who write for kids, we have that ability to go back into our own lives.

Something will be offensive to someone in every book, so you've got to fight it.

With "Margaret," I remember clearly it was, you know because I did remember it clearly. I was young. I was young in terms of experience and what did I know about and I had an incredible memory from my own childhood. And so it never occurred to me to write for any other age group. And I thought I'm going to write a book and I'm going to tell the truth.

Some characters become your friends for life. That's how it was for me with Betsy-Tacy.