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

I am single and childless, but I have lots of friends and I am an aunt to three lovely children.

I think of myself as an enormously lucky person.

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

When it is my editor telling me how to rewrite a story, I listen and do what she asks because I have learned that I get a better book in the end. I can't say I'm happy when I read that editorial letter. It is always a little painful and scary. But I have learned that - bit by bit - I can make the changes and do the work.

Rob Horton, the main character of The Tiger Rising, was a secondary character in an adult short story I wrote, and he wouldn't go away after I'd finished the short story. I couldn't figure out what he wanted, so I wrote to find out.

What I hope is that the book [Bink & Gollie] delights children. What I hope is that they laugh and laugh and laugh, just as we did when we wrote them.