Lloyd Alexander

Children's literature is as valid an art form as any other.

I didn't know if I'd be good with children. Actually talking with them, I mean. But I am good with them.

After seven years of writing - and working many jobs to support my family - I finally got published.

From as far back as I can remember, I always loved the King Arthur stories, fairy tales, mythology - things like that. So it was very natural for me when I came to write the 'Prydain' books to sort of follow that direction.

My concern is how we learn to be genuine human beings.

Classical heroes are usually much larger than life. They're not quite human beings. They're somehow larger than human scale.

Perhaps one reason we are fascinated by cats is because such a small animal can contain so much independence, dignity, and freedom of spirit. Unlike the dog, the cat's personality is never bet on a human's. He demands acceptance on his own terms.

Our favorite book is always the book that speaks most directly to us at a particular stage in our lives. And our lives change. We have other favorites that give us what we most need at that particular time. But we never lose the old favorites. They're always with us. We just sort of accumulate them.

My imagination can do whatever it wants to do. This gives me a great sense of freedom.

I guess there's only two possible places ideas can come from. One is the outside: everything that happens to you and everything that you do in life. And the other is the inside part: your own personality and imagination, and no two people are alike, like fingerprints.

After I saved some money, I quit work and went to a local college.

Writing has got to be some of the hardest work I know.