Every well-written book is a light for me. When you write, you use other writers and their books as guides in the wilderness.
Kate DiCamillo

Everything I write comes from my childhood in one way or another. I am forever drawing on the sense of mystery and wonder and possibility that pervaded that time of my life.
Kate DiCamillo

Hands down, the biggest thrill is to get a letter from a kid saying, I loved your book. Will you write me another one?
Kate DiCamillo

I always write with music. It takes me a while to figure out the right piece of music for what I'm working on. Once I figure it out, that's the only thing I'll play.
Kate DiCamillo

I am busier now than I ever imagined I would be, but I feel blessed in that I have found what I am supposed to be doing with my life. It's wonderful to tell stories and have people listen to them.
Kate DiCamillo

I am single and childless, but I have lots of friends and I am an aunt to three lovely children.
Kate DiCamillo

I didn't know anything about writing a screenplay, but somehow I ended up rewriting a screenplay.
Kate DiCamillo

I didn't start working on children's books until I got a job at a book warehouse on the children's floor. When I started reading some of the books, I was so impressed.
Kate DiCamillo

I hate to cook and love to eat.
Kate DiCamillo

I have a Bachelor of Arts in English, which means I had a lot of formal training in reading.
Kate DiCamillo


I like to think of myself as a storyteller.
Kate DiCamillo

I think of myself as an enormously lucky person.
Kate DiCamillo

I thought I was going nowhere. Now I can see there was a pattern.
Kate DiCamillo

I was born in Philadelphia and currently live in Minneapolis. I write for both children and adults.
Kate DiCamillo

I work full-time in a used bookstore. I get up. I drink a cup of coffee. I think, The last thing I want to do is write. Then I go to the computer and write.
Kate DiCamillo

I'm at the mercy of whatever character comes into my head.
Kate DiCamillo

It distresses me that parents insist that their children read or make them read. The best way for children to treasure reading is to see the adults in their lives reading for their own pleasure.
Kate DiCamillo

My father leaving the family shaped who I was and how I looked at the world. By the same token, my father telling me fairy tales that he had made up shaped me profoundly, too.
Kate DiCamillo

My goal is two pages a day, five days a week. I never want to write, but I'm always glad that I have done it. After I write, I go to work at the bookstore.
Kate DiCamillo

Reading should not be presented to children as a chore, a duty. It should be offered as a gift.
Kate DiCamillo