The very first books I remember liking before I could read were:
- The Gingerbread Man by Patricia Martin Zens
- Big Sister and Little Sister by Charlotte Zolotow
- Richard Scarry’s Busy Busy World
- Fortunately by Remy Charlip
When I was older and could read for myself I liked these books:
- Encyclopedia Brown by Donald J. Sobol
- The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis
- The Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder
- My Father’s Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett
- Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle by Betty MacDonald
- 21 Balloons by William Pene du Bois
- Snow Treasure by Marie McSwigan
- From the Mixed up Files of Ms. Basil E Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsberg
- Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
- The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkein
- The Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula LeGuin
I also liked to read maps, biographies, folk and fairy tales, scripture, poetry, the newspaper and a magazine of my mother’s called Morbidity and Mortality Weekly. I was lucky enough to see quite a lot of theater as a child, too.
Now, I read about 50 books a year. I read several hundred picture books each year and often I’ll read a dozen or so non-fiction books to research my upcoming stories. I couldn’t possibly pick a favorite book, but I will try to put a picture or two of recent favorites here.
