We All Need Ways To Express Ourselves,

When I Began Writing, I Didn't Read Any Other Children's Poets... I Didn't Want To Be Influenced Until I'd Found My Own Voice. Now I Read Them All.

Then I Decided To Draw From And On My Own Imagination, And Everything Came Out Perfect.

I Write The Poems First, With Only A Few Exceptions For Odd Reasons, Where I'm Given The Illustration First.

I've Been Influenced By Poets As Diverse As Dylan Thomas, Lewis Carroll, And Edgar Allan Poe.

After I'd Produced About Two Dozen Pen And Ink Drawings, One Evening I Decided That They Needed Poems To Accompany Them. I Still Have No Idea Where That Notion Came From, But It Took Me About Two Hours To Produce Verses For These Creatures.