I can draw pencil lines to show something is moving, but if I'm writing, I struggle with how to write it. The boy ran down the hallway? The boy ran quickly down the hallway? The boy ran down the marble hallway? I agonize over the words. So my editor works very hard. I'm lucky to have her.

I always write in pencil, so I can erase.

A lot of people who don't write for kids think it's easy, because they think kids aren't as smart as they are, or that you have to dumb down what you would normally write for kids. But I think you have to work harder when you write for kids, to make sure every word is right, that it's there for the right reason.

When you draw conclusions, you had better have a sharp pencil.

When you write and draw in pencil, your eraser is your best friend.

Well, everything surprises me about the writing process because illustrating comes much more naturally to me than writing does.