Writers are good at plucking out what they need here and there.- Beverly Cleary
With twins, reading aloud to them was the only chance I could get to sit down. I read them picture books until they were reading on their own.
What interests me is what children go through while growing up.
We didn't have television in those days, and many people didn't even have radios. My mother would read aloud to my father and me in the evening.
Quite often somebody will say, What year do your books take place? and the only answer I can give is, In childhood.
People are usually surprised to hear this, but I do not really read children's books.
People are inclined to say that I am Ramona. I am not sure that is true, but I did share some experiences with her.
Otis was inspired by a boy who sat across the aisle from me in sixth grade. He was a lively person. My best friend appears in assorted books in various disguises.
One rainy Sunday when I was in the third grade, I picked up a book to look at the pictures and discovered that even though I did not want to, I was reading. I have been a reader ever since.
My mother would read aloud to my father and me in the evening. She read mainly travel books.
I was an only child; I didn't have a sister, or sisters.
I was a very observant child. The boys in my books are based on boys in my neighborhood growing up.
I was a librarian.
I was a great reader of fairy tales. I tried to read the entire fairy tale section of the library.
I wanted to be a ballerina. I changed my mind.
