Quotes from Ursula Dubosarsky

I wanted to write for all children, even those kids who might see language as a threatening thing, even if English is their second language.

There's so much that we just accept, but the reasons behind how certain rules came to be are so fascinating and funny, it just increases your affection for language.

Today, girls,' said Miss Renshaw, 'we shall go out into the beautiful Gardens and think about death.

And we shall all be changed in the twinkling of an eye.

The best stories never end - they keep on going, inside you.

Believe it or not, in 1969 the French writer Georges Perec wrote a palindromic story that was 500 words long! The whole story reads the same backwards as forwards.

How can you be too friendly?

Cubby kept looking for Miss Renshaw--it was like waiting for the bus, constantly thinking that each little sound was Miss Renshaw and Morgan coming back

Hilda was philosophical. That means you think everything will turn out for best, according to my father. Or if you don't actually think it, you pretend to.

The year began with the hanging of one man and ended with the drowning of another.

They came out into the sunshine and the wind, one after the other like dice falling from a cup.

I had never heard Ellery laugh before, not out loud. I loved the sound, it filled me up. It tinkled like a magic bird.

What I want is for people to really grab hold of language and not be nervous about it. 'The Word Spy' is all about diving in and playing with words.