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

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 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.

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.

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.

The purpose of life is to be purposeful.

Confidence is not about being self-centered. It's about being emotionally centered, so you can better see other people.

Was he leaving home, or going home?

We cannot infer from prosperity that God is pleased with us, nor can we infer from adversity that he is displeased with us.

Nagging is the repetition of unpalatable truths.

Uncertain ways unsafest are, and doubt a greater mischief than despair.

Learn to ask for what you want. The worst people can do is not give you what you ask for which is precisely where you were before you asked.

My greatest hero is Nelson Mandela. What a man. Incarcerated for 25 years, he was released in 1990 and he hasn't reoffended. I think he's going straight, which shows you prison does work.

If POSIX threads are a good thing, perhaps I don't want to know what they're better than.

Instead of me keeping my art a personal thing, we can use it to save lives, change lives and inspire.