The way we started was, Alison [McGhee] said, 'Tall girl, short girl.' We had no plans beyond that.

I read whatever the publisher sends me.

I thought I was going nowhere. Now I can see there was a pattern.

That you can go anywhere in America and get a book from a library is just the most amazing thing in the world. It's not a duty; it's a privilege and it's a joy. That joy is doubled and tripled and quadrupled if you read with other people.

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.

Anybody who puts a book into someone else's hands inspires me - teachers, librarians, booksellers, parents.

It's a book [Bink & Gollie] about shortness and tallness, so I think it's appropriate to discuss the virtues of shortness.