Blind terror drove me on, with my flying stirrups whipping me into a frenzy. With no rider to carry I reached the kneeling riflemen first and they scattered as I came upon them.

Our great problem, is that children now know whatever they want to know - at the press of a button they can discover all horrors of the adult world. They know very early on that the world is sometimes a very dark, difficult and complex place, and the literature they read must reflect that. Otherwise we're just entertaining them to pass the time.

Genuinely good people are like that. The sun shines out of them. They warm you right through.

I think there's something about studying a book which will kill it if you're not careful.

We all know that the great memories of our childhood are the little triumphs - it doesn't really matter whether that was in writing, art, on the hockey field or on the football field. It's something that makes you feel - 'I can do this stuff'.

I got married young, far too young, but it is fine. We are still married 48 years later. I got married at 19.

Stories make you think and dream; books make you want to ask questions.