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.

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 a kid who lived to read. It was the primary pleasure of my existence. It's still one of the primary pleasures of my existence. It's where I draw my sustenance.

There's a Buddhist precept that the only thing you deserve is the chance to do the work, and I've been given the chance to do the work.

I always write with music. It takes me a while to figure out the right piece of music for what I'm working on. Once I figure it out, that's the only thing I'll play.

Fairy tales dont tell you that dragons are real, but that they can be defeated!

The shapes arranged themselves into words, and the words spelled out a delicious and wonderful phrase: Once upon a time.