I would like teachers to look deep because sometimes kids do have a faade that they put up because they feel vulnerable. Their creative truth may not be ready for their friends to see.

Writing a story is like going down a path in the woods. You follow the path. You don't worry about getting lost. You just go.

A children's book is the perfect place where young readers can understand the world because they can take a deep breath and look at it and imagine and contemplate while they're looking at.

The detail in my work helps to convince me, and I hope others as well, that such places might be real.

I like to pretend that each book is my first one and last one, because it takes a tremendous amount of energy to do a book.

Teachers have to respect the privacy of students' creative life, but at the same time give them a chance to express themselves.

I loved being a child. If I do have a talent, it's not so much being an artist, but it's being able to remember back to that time.

We're going to Surf City, gonna have some fun. Now, two girls for every boy.

I've found places that are just as beautiful as New England, but this is my home.

I love children because that's a part of my life that was so happy, and I like to remember back to those days where everything is a discovery, and the world is so fresh.

If you don't have a rainbow to give. Give a smile. It works just the same.

Neither in the deepest ocean Nor in the perpetual snowHeaven was on earth that dayFor some reason we are yet to know

I cried until my eyes swelled shut, and then I slept, a black, dreamless sleep from which I awoke amazingly refreshed, at least until I remembered.

To live a life of gratitude is to open our eyes to the countless ways in which we are supported by the world around us.

I have just returned from Boston. It is the only thing to do if you find yourself up there.

I would be looking up from a pool of blood and hearing my wife ask 'How do I reload this thing'.

The gap in education in this country, the unfairness of the schools, is one of the great unfairness in this society.

I write a syndicated column for The Washington Post that goes to about 200, 250 papers.

. . . Harboring an emotion as powerful as gratitude has power of its own.