Books make great gifts because they're everybody's favorite things.

As a rule, my focus is on classical music, but I love jazz. I love everything, actually.

So many things that you can ask children hopefully pique their interest and they can design and think for themselves. Having children draw and illustrate what they saw in their minds' eyes during the story is a tremendous teaching aid.

I'd like to be an original, to be myself and not a pale copy of anyone else.

If I'm reading about a river or the trees or the wind blowing or the stars at night, if you can hear that in the music in some way, you've wedded the two and your imagination takes off. To be able to hear that in music is really important.

Growing up in England, of course you do absorb certain ways the royals wave their hands and carry themselves. Like most girls, I fantasized about being some sort of a princess.

I would like to make one thing quite clear. ... I never explain anything.