Many adults that I have met in my time believed that picture books are 'babyish'. I hope I have changed minds on this, as I set out to do.

Force me to choose my best book, and I always come back to 'Gorilla.' It was the first time I felt I understood what picture books could do.

One of my main decisions when accepting the job of Children's Laureate was that I must continue working on picture books. If I don't write and illustrate for some time, then I begin to question who I am.

As adults, we've seen so much before that we often turn the pages of a picture book without really looking. Young children tend to look more carefully.

As a father, I understand the importance of the bond that develops through reading picture books with your child.

As a boy, I devoured comics but never saw what we now describe as a picture book.