Kate DiCamillo's Blog, page 39

Kids write the best letters. Last week, I received this three-sentence missive...

Kids write the best letters.
Last week, I received this three-sentence missive: "But can you do a split? I didn't think so. Sign on this line."
I signed on the line; I cannot do a split. I wasn't able to do a split when I was a kid. And I sure can't do one now.
The letter, however, delighted me. I've got it memorized.
"But can you do a split?" I ask myself each morning. "I didn't think so," I answer myself.
Those words never fail to cheer me up.
Since I do not have a picture of m...

Stephen King, in his book On Writing, talks about how he works on his "toy truck...

Stephen King, in his book On Writing, talks about how he works on his "toy truck" in the afternoon. A toy truck, for him, is a story that might turn into something and might not.
In other words, it's play.
I love the phrase. It reminds me not to take what I do too seriously. It encourages me to relax.
Also, it makes me think of the Matchbox cars and trucks I had when I was a kid, the ones with doors and hoods that opened and closed. Those cars moved fast, but they were small enough fo...

One of my best friends read To Kill a Mockingbird out loud to her son when he wa...

One of my best friends read To Kill a Mockingbird out loud to her son when he was in fifth grade. Night after night, he listened silently as she read. When she finally came to the end, her son was quiet for a long time and then he looked up at her and said three beautiful words, "Read it again."
April 23 of this year is World Book Night and people all over the United States are going to be handing out books at bowling alleys, dog parks, coffee shops, soup kitchens, hospitals, nursing home...

From the Candlewick Team: Kate recently recorded this lovely video celebrating t...

From the Candlewick Team: Kate recently recorded this lovely video celebrating the 60th anniversary of Charlotte's Web; have a look!


Kate DiCamillo Video for CHARLOTTE'S WEB 60...

This week, I received a beautiful letter from a mother whose eight year old daug...

This week, I received a beautiful letter from a mother whose eight year old daughter read The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane aloud to her. The letter was moving for any number of reasons, but what I keep thinking about is that the daughter read the book to the mother. We all know that reading a story to a child is a powerful way to connect; but I think we forget sometimes that adults need to hear stories, too.
When was the last time sometime told you a story?
Ask your child to read...

My mother gave me a Yearling paperback copy of A Bear Called Paddington one year...

My mother gave me a Yearling paperback copy of A Bear Called Paddington one year for Christmas. In Chapter Three, Paddington journeys into the Underground where he is trailed by a pack of dogs (this has to do with a piece of bacon stowed in the bear's suitcase), involved in a nasty altercation with a ticket inspector, and attempts to run up a down-escalator. The whole business (pack of dogs, bacon in a suitcase, trouble with the authorities, wrong way on the escalator) struck me as hilariou...

A potato masquerading as a pig! This delighted me no end and I wanted to share...

A potato masquerading as a pig! This delighted me no end and I wanted to share it with you. Cathy S. (a school librarian in Missouri) asked her students to use a potato to create their favorite character from a book. The Mercy Watson potato you see here is the work of a kindergartner named Nickolas. Nickolas loves Mercy Watson and thinks I need to write some more books about her. What I want to do, though, is take a potato and make a character. I would start with Stuart Little, I think. ...

I went up north with a bunch of friends for the weekend. We played Scrabble and...

I went up north with a bunch of friends for the weekend. We played Scrabble and Picture Grams and Bananagrams. We ate, and ate some more. We talked and laughed and talked and laughed and talked. On Saturday night, we bundled up and went outside to look at the blue-black sky.
I wonder if the stars could see us standing there, staring up.
I hope we shone, just a little, for them.

"A writer is somebody for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other pe...

"A writer is somebody for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people."—Thomas Mann
I spent all day yesterday going through the copy-edited pages of the new novel. My desk was covered with papers and notes and sticky notes. I laughed quite a bit. I cursed a few times. I felt hopeful. And then worried. And then hopeful again.
I thought: this is too hard.
I thought: this is what I want to do.
That's the way it seems to go over here. It's a seesaw of joy and despair. But...

One Valentine's Day, my mother gave me a card featuring a heart-shaped clock. O...

One Valentine's Day, my mother gave me a card featuring a heart-shaped clock. On the inside of the card were the words "Valentine, my heart ticks for you." In addition to the card, my mother also gave me a gigantic box of Good & Plenty candy. I was eight years old. I had chicken pox. I had missed the Valentine's Day party at school.
I remember sitting on the couch in the Florida room, holding the box of Good & Plenty and staring at it in disbelief and wonder. My mother was an extremely...