What I mean and what I say is two different things," the BFG announced rather grandly.

Well, first of all," said the BFG, "human beans is not really believing in giants, is they? Human beans is not thinking we exist.

The matter with human beans," the BFG went on, "is that they is absolutely refusing to believe in anything unless they is actually seeing it right in front of their own schnozzles.

I asked my mum, who's a very clever psychotherapist, and she says that kids love stories about death; they need it, they need to have stories that deal with death and explain it, as a place to put their fears.

No book ever ends, when it's full of your friends.

When you're old enough to write a book for children, by then you'll have become a grown up and have lost all your jokeyness. Unless you're an undeveloped adult and still have an enormous amount of childishness in you.

When I first thought about writing the book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, I never originally meant to have children in it at all!