I was glad my father was an eye-smiler. It meant he never gave me a fake smile, because it's impossible to make your eyes twinkle if you aren't feeling twinkly yourself. A mouth-smile is different. You can fake a mouth-smile any time you want, simply by moving your lips. I've also learned that a real mouth-smile always has an eye-smile to go with it, so watch out, I say, when someone smiles at you with his mouth but the eyes stay the same. It's sure to be bogus.

Writing is mainly perspiration, not inspiration.

Those who don't believe in magic will never find it.

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.

If the Good Lord intended for us to walk, he wouldn't have invented rollar skates.

I'm wondering what to read next." Matilda said. "I've finished all the children's books.

When you're writing, it's rather like going on a very long walk