I was the most Australian child ever in the world, even though my home was in Africa.

I realized with grief that purposeless activities in language arts are probably the burial grounds of language development and that coffins can be found in most classrooms, including mine.

I think that my favourite animal is a baby possum, or a joey. The face of a really little joey is so divine - so, so gorgeous.

If you are not a writer, you will not understand the difficulties of writing. If you are not a writer, you will not know the fears and hopes of the writers you teach.

Reading aloud and talking about what we're reading sharpens children's brains. It helps develop their ability to concentrate at length, to solve problems logically, and to express themselves more easily and clearly.

Putting babies as young as two weeks into child care for the first year of their life, for 60 hours a week, will cause their brains damage.

When I say to a parent, "read to a child", I don't want it to sound like medicine. I want it to sound like chocolate.