Judy Blume
Judy Blume
Judy Blumeis an American writer known for children's and young adultfiction. Some of her best known works are Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret, Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, Deenie, and Blubber. The New Yorker has called her books "talismans that, for a significant segment of the American female population, marked the passage from childhood to adolescence."...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionChildren's Author
Date of Birth12 February 1938
CityElizabeth, NJ
CountryUnited States of America
I loved to read, and I think any child who loves to read will read anything, including the back of the cereal box, which I did every morning.
I love to talk with children. I try to visit schools but it's hard for me to travel when I'm trying to write. Some authors are able to do both.
The child from nine to 12 interests me very much. And so, those were the years that I like to write about, when I'm writing.
I'm lucky that so many children visit my website. At least I get to talk with them that way.
A lot of people worry much too much about what their children are reading... If a child picks up a book and reads something she has a question about, if she can go to her parents, great. Or else they will read right over it. It won't mean a thing. They are very good, I think, at monitoring what makes them feel uncomfortable. If something makes them feel uncomfortable they will put it down.
I love picture books. I think some of the best people in children's books are the ones who create their own picture books. I wish I could say I'm one of them, but I'm not.
Censors never go after books unless kids already like them. I don’t even think they know to go after books until they know that children are interested in reading this book, therefore there must be something in it that’s wrong.
Let children read whatever they want and then talk about it with them. If parents and kids can talk together, we won't have as much censorship because we won't have as much fear.
Are you there God? It's me, Margaret. I just told my mother I want a bra. Please help me grow God. You know where. I want to be like everyone else.
You'd think he was the first person to ever lose a tooth!
One of my concerns is that writers will begin to feel the censor on their backs, and we won't get their very best. Instead their fear, or the fear imposed by the publisher, will limit them. When I lock myself up to write, I cannot allow myself to think about the censor, or the reviewer, or anyone but my characters and their story.
Those who would challenge or ban a book have to find out about it first,
Don't buy anything controversial. We don't want any trouble in our community.
It's not just the books under fire now that worry me. It is the books that will never be written.