Quotes from Barbara Park

Tappy shoes are not happy shoes, I think

Beatrice. I just like B and that's all. I was named after the month of Junie. 'Cause Junie is the month I was born in, of course! And wait till you hear this! Yesterday, I finally had my birthday!

up and got out the 'greedients. 'Greedients is the stuff you mix together. Like the bowl. And the spoon. And the cereal. And the milk. Except for the milk carton was very too heavy for me. And so I just got the orange juice, instead. I put my bowl of cereal on the floor. Then I poured orange juice to the tippy-top of it. I took a giant bite. "Yum," I said. "This is the most delicious breakfast I ever ate. Except for it doesn't actually taste that good.

down from the chair. And he gave Maxine lots more

There are many reluctant young readers who haven't yet found books that make them laugh.

I like to think that Junie B. looks at the world - and this isn't a negative comment on her - from the lowest common denominator. It's not all gray to her; it's all black and white.

Of all the novels I've written, my favorite is 'Mick Harte Was Here'.

I've stopped reading about my books on the Internet because it's too hurtful.

My criteria for what makes a book an official 'favorite,' is based almost entirely on how desperately I don't want the story to end.

Sometimes grown ups don't act their right old age

Moving makes you feel all alone inside.

Even though sometimes you can control your anger, you can't control your sadness.

There are those who believe that the value of a children's book can be measured only in terms of the moral lessons it tries to impose or the perfect role models it offers. Personally, I happen to think that a book is of extraordinary value if it gives the reader nothing more than a smile or two. In fact, I happen to think that's huge.

I find that when I'm struggling to think of how a six-year-old would feel about something, I just have to go right down to the common denominator, find the simplest way that you can look at an object or a problem, and not muck it up with all of the stuff that adults do and over-analyze.

Ever since I began writing my Junie B. Jones series, people have been assuming that the character is based on me when I was a little girl. The fact is, though, that Junie B. and I have very little in common.