When I was a child, my grandmother often said: “learn to read and you will never be alone.” I did learn to read, and I have never been lonely since. When I was not reading, I was playing outdoors in gardens, fields, and pine woods with other children. From the very beginning, my life has been influenced by nature and by stories.

I was a bit late, compared to many, when I “caught the reading bug”, as the saying goes, and began to read every book I could find. The school library and the little town library – a lean-to on the fire station – did not have enough for me. Certain books became favourites. In the early years I had loved to read and reread:

• Sam and the Firefly

• One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish

• And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street
  

All wonderful stories told with rhythm.

As I grew, I cherished:

• Swallows and Amazons

• Island of the Blue Dolphins

• A Wrinkle in Time

• The Wind In the Willows

• The Cat Who Went to Heaven

• An Old–fashioned Girl

Some of these became so loved that they were like talismans that gave comfort and security, for their stories had contributed to the forming of my identity, my ideals, my ethos, my aesthetics.

It is this that I hope my books will be to the children who read them.

The Big Field