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Reading might not be the way that the child engages with the world, but it should be something that they all learn how to do, and that they get to have for themselves, as opposed to somebody telling them what to do and how to do it.

Kate DiCamillo

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Kate DiCamillo
Age: 60
Born: 1964
Born: March 25
Novelist
Writer
Philadelphia
Pennsylvania
Katrina Elizabeth DiCamillo
Might
Children
Engages
Something
Opposed
Way
Telling
World
Somebody
Child
Reading
Learn

More quotes by Kate DiCamillo

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The words, I have a dog named Winn-Dixie, popped into my head in the voice of a small girl with a southern accent. I'd been writing long enough at that point to know not to ignore that kind of red flag. The next day, I put aside what I'd been working on, started with that one sentence, and followed it all the way to the end.
Kate DiCamillo
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Reading is my passion.
Kate DiCamillo
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I think Tony Fucile, who did the illustrations [for Bink & Gollie], is an absolute genius. I've never met him.
Kate DiCamillo
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What I hope is that the book [Bink & Gollie] delights children. What I hope is that they laugh and laugh and laugh, just as we did when we wrote them.
Kate DiCamillo
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When it is my editor telling me how to rewrite a story, I listen and do what she asks because I have learned that I get a better book in the end. I can't say I'm happy when I read that editorial letter. It is always a little painful and scary. But I have learned that - bit by bit - I can make the changes and do the work.
Kate DiCamillo
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Nobody ever learns anything.
Kate DiCamillo
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Rob Horton, the main character of The Tiger Rising, was a secondary character in an adult short story I wrote, and he wouldn't go away after I'd finished the short story. I couldn't figure out what he wanted, so I wrote to find out.
Kate DiCamillo
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Her sister, Holly McGhee, is an agent, and she's my agent in New York. She's Alison's agent too. Even though Alison lives here in Minneapolis, I met Alison through Holly, when Holly came to Minneapolis to visit Alison.
Kate DiCamillo
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I have done quite a few signings at bookstores, libraries and conferences. I have received phone calls and letters from people who liked the book.
Kate DiCamillo
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This is a wonderful joke to play upon a prisoner, to promise forgiveness.
Kate DiCamillo
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I read my books out loud to myself because of the demands of the story and demands of language.
Kate DiCamillo
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Sometimes strange and wonderful things will pop into my head. And sometimes I will see something in the world that is the beginning of a story. I always have a notebook with me so that I can write down what I see and hear.
Kate DiCamillo
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The world is dark, and light is precious. Come closer, dear reader. You must trust me. I am telling you a story.
Kate DiCamillo
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I'm grateful for every teacher or librarian who reads a book and says, This is exactly the book that so-and-so needs to read I'll get it in his hands. I'm amazed at the network of adults who make sure that kids get books.
Kate DiCamillo
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Once upon a time, he said out loud to the darkness. He said these words because they were the best, the most powerful words that he knew and just the saying of them comforted him.
Kate DiCamillo
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In luggage claim at the Minneapolis airport, the guy came up to me and said, Maybe you're wrong, maybe stories do matter. I wrote that on a scrap of paper and put it above my desk. That was the thing that pushed me through to the end of telling Despereaux, that comment, Maybe they do...maybe stories matter.
Kate DiCamillo
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I always go to the Agriculture Building, where they make apple cider popsicles for a dollar.
Kate DiCamillo
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At the thought of being eaten by rats, Despereaux forgot about being brave. He forgot about not being a disappointment. He felt himself heading into another faint. But his mother, who had an excellent sense of dramatic timing, beat him to it she executed a beautiful, flawless swoon, landing right at Despereaux's feet.
Kate DiCamillo
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Did you think that rats do not have hearts? Wrong. All living things have a heart. And the heart of any living thing can be broken.
Kate DiCamillo
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I think of Mercy Watson like a superball there's a bouncy kind of optimism to her stories. She allows me to play, and she makes me laugh. Hopefully readers feel the same way.
Kate DiCamillo