The sound of the king's music made Despereaux's soul grow large and light inside of him.

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."

When I do it [writing] by myself, there's a lot more terror and uncertainty.

There is nothing worse than war in the summetime.

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

There ain't no point in making soup unless others eat it. Soup needs another mouth to taste it, another heart to be warmed by it.

Minnesota has been so good to me and so pleased that I love Minnesota.