Kate DiCamillo
Kate DiCamillo
Katrina Elizabeth "Kate" DiCamillo is an American writer of children's fiction for all reading levels, usually featuring animals. She is one of six people to win two Newbery Medals, recognizing her novels The Tale of Despereauxand Flora and Ulysses. Her best-known books for young children are Mercy Watson series illustrated by Chris Van Dusen...
ProfessionChildren's Author
Date of Birth25 March 1964
CityPhiladelphia, PA
adventure army pigs
What's my weirdest adventure? Yikes, there've been so very many. Perhaps the pig+vegetable+Taiwanese-army-guys boat ride to the island off the coast of Taiwan qualifies as the weirdest. Or at least the most seasick.
girl answers world
Besides, who ever asked you what you wanted in this world, girl? The answer to that question, reader, as you well know, was absolutely no one.
heart dark light
Like most hearts, it was complicated, shaded with dark and dappled with light.
blessed people would-be
I am busier now than I ever imagined I would be, but I feel blessed in that I have found what I am supposed to be doing with my life. It's wonderful to tell stories and have people listen to them.
children book writing
For children: I'm writing a picture book about the Big Dipper and a novel about a cricket, a firefly and a vole. For grownups: I'm writing poems.
believe squirrels world
Take this squirrel, for instance. Ulysses. Do I believe he can type poetry? Sure, I do believe it. There is much more beauty in the world if I believe such a thing is possible.
patterns i-can
I thought I was going nowhere. Now I can see there was a pattern.
writing drawing childhood
Everything I write comes from my childhood in one way or another. I am forever drawing on the sense of mystery and wonder and possibility that pervaded that time of my life.
girl fun guarantees-that
I'm not exactly sure how old the girls are [in Bink & Gollie], but I can pretty much guarantee that their parents will never show up. That would mess up the fun. I do, however, very much like Kate's idea of having Tony [Fucile] draw their portraits.
miracle happened
So many miracles have not yet happened.
writing interest wanted
Understand, I had absolutely no interest in writing; I wanted to be a Writer.
father leaving world
My father leaving the family shaped who I was and how I looked at the world. By the same token, my father telling me fairy tales that he had made up shaped me profoundly, too.
children book laughing
What I hope is that the book [Bink & Gollie] delights children. What I hope is that they laugh and laugh and laugh, just as we did when we wrote them.
children writing philadelphia
I was born in Philadelphia and currently live in Minneapolis. I write for both children and adults.