In the beginning of the book, The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, Edward is more enamored of himself than he is of anybody else. He's a very fine rabbit; he's been constructed incredibly well, and he has a wardrobe of amazing clothing. He's arrogant, and he doesn't care whether Abilene loves him or not. As the journey progresses, as he gets passed from hand to hand, he learns what it means to love. He gets more and more bedraggled, and his clothing is lost; yet he becomes finer in soul and heart than he was at the beginning of the journey.

There are so many difficult things and stories can make them palatable. That's the way I have always felt.

Mercy Watson was a character that had been in my head for a long time.

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

In a dark time, doors will sometimes magically open and let us step inside to the warmth and light of a community.

A typical day for me is I get up at 6:00, the coffeemaker goes on automatically and the computer gets turned on. I pour a cup of coffee, listen to Garrison Keillor's The Writer's Almanac, and then I write.

That is surely the truth, at least for now. But perhaps you have not noticed: the truth is forever changing.