A real New Yorker likes the sound of a garbage truck in the morning.

Most fears are basic: fear of the dark, fear of going down in the basement, fear of weird sounds, fear that somebody is waiting for you in your closet. Those kinds of things stay with you no matter what age.

It's my job, too, to keep up with pop culture and what the kids are into 'cause you don't want to sound like an old man trying to write for kids. I spend a lot of my time spying on them.

Sometimes it helps to scold yourself, to give yourself advice.

I drive a lot in the summertime, but after that, I don't drive if there's snow predicted for anywhere in 500 miles.

I believe that kids as well as adults are entitled to books of no socially redeeming value.

Many adults feel that every children's book has to teach them something.... My theory is a children's book... can be just for fun.