I want to write something so simple, so short and so silly... and I want it to be for my brother.

A book is really like a lover. It arranges itself in your life in a way that is beautiful.

That's what art is. You don't make up stories. You live your life.

Most children - I know I did when I was a kid - fantasize another set of parents. Or fantasize no parents. They don't tell their real parents about that - you don't want to tell Mom and Dad. Kids lead a very private life. And I was a typical child, I think. I was a liar.

One of the few graces of getting old - and God knows there are few graces - is that if you've worked hard and kept your nose to the grindstone, something happens: The body gets old but the creative mechanism is refreshed, smoothed and oiled and honed. That is the grace. That is what's happening to me.

Emeralds,' said the rabbit. 'Emeralds make a lovely gift.

I do not remember any proper children's books in my childhood. I was not exposed to them.