Brian P. Cleary

These are books that want to be read out loud. These are books kids share with each other, and I think that's important. ”

If I have a talent for making some fourth-grader who hates school and reading to hate it a little less, then I have to do the most with what I've been issued. ”

I love the semicolon; it's unnecessary, but graceful and sophisticated. ”

Kids enjoy laughing and are seldom bored when they find something funny. They also ask questions, often to adults, because they understand that the more words they can comprehend about a funny story or a joke, the more they'll enjoy it. ”

In writing I found something I could do at least as well as my peers, if not better. ”

When a kid can understand that a word can mean two things, there's some real thinking going on. They have a vested interest in finding out what a word means, because it's the punch line to a joke. ”

You want a story? Read 'Gone With the Wind'. These aren't stories. They're joke books. The whole thing of a beginning, a middle and an end has been done to death. ”