I think for everybody reading can be a solace, illumination, education.

The world is dark, and light is precious. Come closer, dear reader. You must trust me. I am telling you a story.

Reading should not be presented to children as a chore or duty. It should be offered to them as a precious gift.

May God strike me down with a hammer on the head before I write a book with a teach-y goal!

The undoing is almost always more difficult than the doing.

I think of Mercy Watson like a superball; there's a bouncy kind of optimism to her stories. She allows me to play, and she makes me laugh. Hopefully readers feel the same way.

While we were working, we were writing about a tall girl and a short girl, which we thought was funny, because Alison's [McGhee] tall and I'm short.