I am just always, always paying attention - waiting for the words, or image, or name that will be the beginning of a story.

Most of my books begin with an image or a voice - one small thing - and I don't know what it is going to become.

I was born in Philadelphia and currently live in Minneapolis. I write for both children and adults.

Miracles and magic pervade the things that I've written, but yet there are no miracles and there is no magic.

As a kid books changed how I looked at the world and helped me understand things. Books still deepen me and open my heart.

If memory serves me correctly, and it doesn't always, Kate [DiCamillo] and I met in the fall of 2001 at the former Figlio's restaurant in Minneapolis. We were laughing within a minute of meeting - always a good sign.

I never want to be a role model.