After I won the Newbery Medal for 'From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler,' children all over the world let me know that they liked books that take them to unusual places where they meet unusual people.
Interpretation
Books can transport readers to unique worlds and introduce them to interesting characters.
E. L. Konigsburg emphasizes the power of literature to engage children's imaginations by taking them to extraordinary settings and allowing them to encounter fascinating characters. Winning the Newbery Medal reinforced her belief in the importance of storytelling that challenges the norms and intrigues young minds, showing that readers appreciate adventures in unexpected places with distinctive individuals.
In practice
This quote can inspire a reading program aimed at encouraging children to explore diverse literature.
The essential problems remain the same... The kids I write about are asking for the same things I wanted. They want two contradictory things. They want to be the same as everyone else, and they want to be different from everyone else. They want acceptance for both.
I'm not sure that love and like aren't like cats and dogs: One can't grow up to be the other, but they can be taught to live under the same roof.
I think most of us are outsiders. And I think that's good because it makes you question things.
Art comes from a visceral need and is usually generated by something I have seen; writing comes from something that happens in my head and my heart.
Every now and then, a person must do something simply because he wants to, because it seems to him worth doing. And that does not make it worthless or a waste of time.
Finish. The difference between being a writer and being a person of talent is the discipline it takes to apply the seat of your pants to the seat of your chair and finish. Don't talk about doing it. Do it. Finish.
That is part of the beauty of all literature. You discover that your longings are universal longings, that you're not lonely and isolated from anyone. You belong.
Some Native American writers enjoy being called Native American writers.
If we can't stamp out literature in the country, we can at least stop its being brought in from outside.
A good novel tells us the truth about its hero; but a bad novel tells us the truth about its author.
Perhaps the story in the book is just the lid on a pan: It always stays the same, but underneath there's a whole world that goes on - developing and changing like our own world.
'Who's been repeating all that hard stuff to you?' 'I read it in a book,' said Alice. 'But I had some poetry repeated to me, much easier than that, by - Tweedledee, I think it was.' 'As to poetry, you know,' said Humpty Dumpty, stretching out one of his great hands, 'I can repeat poetry as well as other folk, if it comes to that - ' 'Oh, it needn't come to that!' Alice hastily said, hoping to keep him from beginning.
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