There is the myth that writing books for children is easier than writing books for grownups, whereas we know that truly great books for children are works of genius, whether it's 'Alice in Wonderland' or the 'Gruffalo' or 'Northern Lights.' When it's a great book, it's a great book, whether it's for children or not.

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.

Characters are the key to a good book. It took me several novels to comprehend that.

I'm still not sure I want to be a writer. I think of myself as a storyteller more.

Anything that gets children reading is fine.

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

Books that kids read should be about what is going on in the world.