I have very little patience with children.

Babies have much higher levels of stress in childcare.

If we are always reading aloud something that is more difficult than children can read themselves then when they come to that book later, or books like that, they will be able to read them - which is why even a fifth grade teacher, even a tenth grade teacher, should still be reading to children aloud. There is always something that is too intractable for kids to read on their own.

The fire of literacy is created by the emotional sparks between a child, a book, and the person reading. It isn’t achieved by the book alone, nor by the child alone, nor by the adult who’s reading aloud—it’s the relationship winding between all three, bringing them together in easy harmony.

My mother was a very difficult woman to please. She was the sort of woman who thought that if I were praised I would get above myself.

I think sometimes we rush through countries, ticking off the attractions, but that's missing the point.

The fire of literacy is created by the emotional sparks between a child, a book, and the person reading.