When I was a kid, I hated reading nonfiction. I'd open a book and just see lots of words on a page. No images. Or if there were pictures they were black and white photos or duotones. Booooring. Hey, I'm the kid who always felt cheated if they repeated an interior illustration on the cover. I like pictures and lots of them.

That's why I love today's nonfiction books for children. They are full of exciting images and information. It's so much fun to research a topic and find the nuggets that kids love. I mean who wouldn't love knowing the legend about Orsippus who, while competing in the Olympic games in 720 B.C., lost his shorts in the middle of a race. He won anyway and from then on male althletes competed in the nude. Now that's cool. Or at least drafty for Orsippus.

Of course I love writing fiction too. The Bad Luck of King Fred was inspired by my mother who was very superstitious. When I was growing up, she trained all her kids to say "bread and butter" if we walked on one side of a pole and she walked on the other side. If you didn't, you were guilty of letting something come in between you, which might cause a falling out – usually from an argument about having to say bread and butter.

I have my own superstitions now. None of those tired walking under ladders or opening umbrellas inside taboos. My susperstitions all revolve around work. If a rough drawing is going well, I have to stick with the same pencil until it's done, because the pencil, of course, does all the work.