A book, being a physical object, engenders a certain respect that zipping electrons cannot. Because you cannot turn a book off, because you have to hold it in your hands, because a book sits there, waiting for you, whether you think you want it or not, because of all these things, a book is a friend. It’s not just the content, but the physical being of a book that is there for you always and unconditionally.

Aggle flabble kabble . . . snurp?

All of the life-changing awesome words and pictures and ideas inside your library are useless without just one word outside your library: Open.

Kids are super-independent. This is the time when you don't need your parents for a story anymore. You have a great degree of agency and independence.

When you make a decision, you don't have to be locked into it. One of the ways that you grow is by starting over.

My favorite book is my next one. I’m always hoping to make my next book my best one.

When you make a decision, you don't have to be locked into it. One of the ways that you grow is by starting over. There are all kinds of really powerful things in that moment, which is what makes story work. Part of Laurie's Keller personality is this ability to revise, to come back and to look at things from a different angle. I don't want to tell stories too much out of school, but Laurie Keller is the only person who sent me a card on my birthday and then sent me a revision.