Beautiful & inspiring, love the way she writes about children and books.

Her thoughts are so timely and lovely and thought-provoking. I didn't like the order if the essays in this book as much as I appreciated the mix of sorry and long in The Spying Heart. Many of these are repeats from that book, as well, but since it is out of print and they're the best ones, it's a good thing.

Twenty years of reading her book about children and writing has left me bereft. We are no closer to preserving the innocence of children. Restoring the brokenness of this world is further still and the sun is setting fast. Yet I will keep this book close by as encouragement to my soul.

Isaiah 42. Amen.

This was really beautiful. I never read Paterson as a child because she seemed dull, but if her books are as good as her speeches about them (and about literature, childhood, moving, adults, culture, and more), I'm jumping on that train now.

This is a book of essays and lectures by Paterson about writing for children. Many of the essays are speeches she gave while accepting all the prestiges awards she has won. Her lectures are folksy but wise, giving us a true and honest framework in which to understand children's literature. Her major themes and passions are telling children the truth about the world and giving them hope even as they learn it's a hard place to live. Lots of interesting tidbits about the books she's written.

Katherine Paterson has a beautiful way with words. This collection of essays/ speeches really was a fabulous read. I wish it was still in print so that I could buy my own copy and mark up all the nuggets of wisdom in these pages. She talks about reading and writing for children in a way that is so real that it encourages the reader to stay true to the younger generation, not to fill them with mindless fluff but to discuss and expose those hurtful or hidden things in our lives and world (at appropriate ages) and not let them rule you or sweep you up in their pain but to expose them to light and let the children of the world know, they aren't alone. They are all, each individual child, so very precious.

Love this author and interesting to read about her perspective and makes you realize how important book can be for children.

This was really interesting. But I was expecting it to give me some good writing tips, which it didn't. It's a collection of speeches by Katherine Paterson about the concept behind writing for children, which was inspiring to me, as that's what I want to do. She is an amazing author and a brilliant woman.

I can't even describe how much I loved this book. It's one of those I'll keep on my bookshelf forever. Please don't ask to borrow it. I won't share! I didn't ever want to come to the end of this lovely volume. Katherine Paterson's thoughts on reading and writing for children took me back to all the books I've loved, especially the ones that have stayed with me my whole life. Books are the friends that never leave us. One of my favorite sentiments was that children don't go to books looking for role models; instead, they are searching for truth. "Books," she says, "are practice for life...The time a child needs a book about life's dark passages is before he or she has had to experience them. We need practice with loss, rehearsal for grieving, just as we need preparation for decision making." This book is valuable for anyone who teaches children, writes for children, ministers to children or simply reads to children at bedtime.

For anyone who wants to write for kids... hell, for anyone who wants to WRITE, this is a truly awesome book. Because it is a collection of speeches, there are some repeated anecdotes but they are all great.

I absolutely love Katherine Patterson! These are the first of her essays that I have ever read. I am mostly familiar with her through The Bridge to Terabithia, but now, after this collection of speeches, she is a dear friend and admirable role model.

She is deeply entrenched in biblical reality, metaphor, and ideology and I love her for it. She respects children not only as people, but as people made in the image of God, full of value. There is so much hope, love, goodness, beauty and truth in these pages.

"The very persons who took away my time and space," she says, "are the ones who have given me something to say."