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

The Tale of Despereaux came at the request of Luke, my friend's then-eight-year-old son, who asked, "Write for me the story of an unlikely hero with exceptionally large ears."

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

My favorite food is deep-fried ravioli. I always get that every year.

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

I think I'm succinct to the point of trying to write the two-word novel. Editing my work almost never means taking anything out but rather adding, because I'm always stripping down. I tend to under-write rather than over-write.

The undoing is almost always more difficult than the doing.