Tag: reader
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September 5, 2023
Twenty-two years ago, I started working on the story of an unlikely hero–a very small mouse named Despereaux. Writing is always hard for me, and telling this story was especially difficult. Somewhere in the writing process, a narrator’s voice showed up. This narrator was brash, confident, irreverent, and, also, comforting—this voice seemed to know what…
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April 12, 2023
A young reader named Grace wrote to tell me that “the pig books” make her happy because whenever she reads them to her mom, it makes her mother laugh “soooooooooo” hard. I can’t tell you how happy this makes me—to think of a mother and daughter reading together, laughing together. Thank you, Grace. Thank you,…
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November 29, 2022
A young reader named Gabby sent me this fortune. She told me that the words made her think of me. I wrote her and thanked her, and then I taped the fortune in my notebook. Every time I read it my heart leaps inside of me, and says: oh, yes! That! That is what I…
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November 1, 2022
I received this letter last week, and I don’t know how many times I’ve read it since then. These words are like a window; they let me see into the heart and mind of a young reader. And what I see gives me so much hope. Yes, Niki, there is kindness in the world. Thank…
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August 23, 2022
Joan Aiken’s The Wolves of Willoughby Chase is a book that I re-read every couple of years. I don’t remember how I discovered it, but I do remember that the first time I read it, I was in seventh grade and I loved it so much that I recommended it to my English teacher—Mrs. Baird.…
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October 19, 2021
When I’m asked to define myself, the first word that pops into my head is “reader.” Who am I? I am a reader. What do I do? I read. So when I opened a letter from Grayson (who is nine) and saw this glorious piece of art, I spoke aloud to it. “Yes!” I said,…