110+ Kate DiCamillo Quotes On Reading, Heartwarming And Whimsical

Kate DiCamillo is an American writer of children's fiction. She is best known for her books The Tale of Despereaux, Flora & Ulysses, and Because of Winn-Dixie. She has won numerous awards, including two Newbery Medals, for her work. Following is our collection on famous quotes by Kate DiCamillo on reading, heartwarming, whimsical.

Top 10 Kate DiCamillo Quotes

1. I was born in Philadelphia and currently live in Minneapolis. I write for both children and adults.
2. There ain't no way you can hold onto something that wants to go, you understand? You can only love what you got while you got it.
3. Once upon a time," he said out loud to the darkness. He said these words because they were the best, the most powerful words that he knew and just the saying of them comforted him.
4. There is nothing sweeter in this sad world than the sound of someone you love calling your name.
5. Reading should not be presented to children as a chore or duty. It should be offered to them as a precious gift.
6. You must be filled with expectancy. You must be awash in hope. You must wonder who will love you, whom you will love next.
7. You can always trust a dog that likes peanut butter.
8. I am single and childless, but I have lots of friends and I am an aunt to three lovely children.
9. Each new friendship can make you a new person, because it opens up new doors inside of you.
10. Stories are light. Light is precious in a world so dark.

Kate DiCamillo Short Quotes

• My favorite food is deep-fried ravioli. I always get that every year.
• I always go to the Agriculture Building, where they make apple cider popsicles for a dollar.
• I thought I was going nowhere. Now I can see there was a pattern.
• It's hard not to immediately fall in love witha dog who has a good sense of humor.
• Allow me to congratulate you on your very astute powers of observation.
• But let's not speak of what might have been. Let us speak instead of what is. You are whole.
• I never want to be a role model.
• And hope is like love...a ridiculous, wonderful, powerful thing.
• I believe, sometimes, that the whole world has an aching heart.
• I didn't know anything about writing a screenplay, but somehow I ended up rewriting a screenplay.

Kate DiCamillo Quotes About Reading

It distresses me that parents insist that their children read or make them read. I think the best way for children to treasure reading is for them to see the adults in their lives reading for their own pleasure. — Kate DiCamillo

I think for everybody reading can be a solace, illumination, education. — Kate DiCamillo

Reading is my passion. — Kate DiCamillo

I think, oh my god, kids are reading, and they care about a book enough to come over and talk to me about a book that they care about. If I think about it as being a celebrity, it would freak me out. But I just think, lucky me, that I get to be a part of this whole thing. — Kate DiCamillo

That you can go anywhere in America and get a book from a library is just the most amazing thing in the world. It's not a duty; it's a privilege and it's a joy. That joy is doubled and tripled and quadrupled if you read with other people. — Kate DiCamillo

I'm just doing what I've done my whole life, which is talking to people about books and making them read. It's what I do in my friendships. "Here, you have to read this, you have to read this." — Kate DiCamillo

I'm grateful for every teacher or librarian who reads a book and says, "This is exactly the book that so-and-so needs to read; I'll get it in his hands." I'm amazed at the network of adults who make sure that kids get books. — Kate DiCamillo

Reading a story should be a fabulous, wonderful thing. The most important thing that parents can do for kids is to read with them and to let their kids see them reading books for their own pleasure. — Kate DiCamillo

The draft that finally goes to my editor doesn't get into her hands until I have read it out loud innumerable times - sometimes into a tape recorder - to make sure that it sounds right. — Kate DiCamillo

I read my books out loud to myself because of the demands of the story and demands of language. — Kate DiCamillo

Kate DiCamillo Famous Quotes And Sayings

the story is not a pretty one. there is violence in it. And cruelty. But stories that are not pretty have a certain value, too, I suppose. Everything, as you well know (having lived in this world long enough to have figured out a thing or two for yourself), cannont always be sweetness and light. — Kate DiCamillo

At the thought of being eaten by rats, Despereaux forgot about being brave. He forgot about not being a disappointment. He felt himself heading into another faint. But his mother, who had an excellent sense of dramatic timing, beat him to it; she executed a beautiful, flawless swoon, landing right at Despereaux's feet. — Kate DiCamillo

We appreciate the complicated and wonderful gifts you give us in each other. And we appreciate the task you put down before us, of loving each other the best we can, even as you love us. — Kate DiCamillo

I write two pages - that's all I write. It takes me about an hour. I've learned that's all I'm capable of and to push myself beyond that is foolhardy. It's a very delicate thing, and I will not abuse it. So I write two pages, then I get up from the computer. — Kate DiCamillo

My goal is two pages a day, five days a week. I never want to write, but I'm always glad that I have done it. After I write, I go to work at the bookstore. — Kate DiCamillo

I will be brave, thought Despereaux. I will try to be brave like a knight in shining armour. I will be brave for the Princess Pea. — Kate DiCamillo

At least Lester had the decency to weep at his act of perfidy. Reader, do you know what 'perfidy' means? I have a feeling you do, based on the scene that unfolded here. But you should look up the word in your dictionary, just to be sure. — Kate DiCamillo

A friend of mine said Winn-Dixie is the way that people want the world to be and Tiger Rising is the way that it is. — Kate DiCamillo

Stories are light. Light is precious in a world so dark. Begin at the beginning. Tell Gregory a story. Make some light. — Kate DiCamillo

But still, here are the words Despereaux Tilling spoke to his father. He said, "I forgive you, Pa!" And he said those words because he sensed that it was the only way to save his heart, to stop it from breaking in two. Despereaux, reader, spoke those words to save himself. — Kate DiCamillo

Reader, you must know that an interesting fate (sometimes involving rats, sometimes not) awaits almost everyone, mouse or man, who does not conform. — Kate DiCamillo

There can be a lot of longevity in the repetition of things being told again and again in a variety of ways. — Kate DiCamillo

But, reader, there is no comfort in the word "farewell," even if you say it in French. "Farewell" is a word that,in any language, is full of sorrow. It is a word that promises absolutely nothing. — Kate DiCamillo

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. — Kate DiCamillo

The shapes arranged themselves into words, and the words spelled out a delicious and wonderful phrase: Once upon a time. — Kate DiCamillo

I work full-time in a used bookstore. I get up. I drink a cup of coffee. I think, The last thing I want to do is write. Then I go to the computer and write. — Kate DiCamillo

It is our duty and our joy to communicate our hearts to each other. Words assist us in this task. — Kate DiCamillo

The book [The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane] is about the fact that living in this world means that your heart is necessarily going to get broken. But the book also says that's okay. That's the only way to live a truly human life - with your heart getting broken - and eventually getting flooded with love. — Kate DiCamillo

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. — Kate DiCamillo

Life was so short; so many beautiful things slipped away. — Kate DiCamillo

I was visiting my mother in Florida when the September 11, 2001 attacks happened. I was working on The Tale of Despereaux at that point. I had already gone into writing it with a great deal of trepidation and fear, and then this God-awful thing happens and it was really hard to even get back home to Minneapolis. — Kate DiCamillo

I always write with music. It takes me a while to figure out the right piece of music for what I'm working on. Once I figure it out, that's the only thing I'll play. — Kate DiCamillo

Life is hard. Life is beautiful. Life is difficult. Life is wonderful. — Kate DiCamillo

The Tale of Despereaux is the story of an unlikely hero, a mouse, who falls in love with a princess and then must save her. It's a triumph of the human spirit, via a mouse. — Kate DiCamillo

In luggage claim at the Minneapolis airport, the guy came up to me and said, "Maybe you're wrong, maybe stories do matter." I wrote that on a scrap of paper and put it above my desk. That was the thing that pushed me through to the end of telling Despereaux, that comment, "Maybe they do...maybe stories matter." — Kate DiCamillo

Alison [McGhee] and I have known each other since the summer of 2001. One evening we were sitting around talking about how we wished we had a good story to work on. Alison said: Why don't we work on a story together? I said: A story about what? And Alison said: A story about a short girl and a tall girl. — Kate DiCamillo

[Our first dinner with Alison McGhee] was at Figlio's [in Minneapolis]. I know exactly what I had, because it was so good: their three-cheese ravioli. But I can't remember what I said to Alison that night that made her laugh so hard. But she got me right away and I got her right away. — Kate DiCamillo

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. — Kate DiCamillo

In The Tale of Despereaux, there is a lot of darkness, a lot of despair. There's also a lot of light, redemption, hope. There's forgiveness, there's friendship, there's love. But the world in all of its potential craziness is also there. — Kate DiCamillo

The Tale of Despereaux came at the request of Luke, my friend's then-eight-year-old son, who asked, "Write for me the story of an unlikely hero with exceptionally large ears." — Kate DiCamillo

I have learned how to love. And it's a terrible thing. I'm broken. My heart is broken. Help me. — Kate DiCamillo

I think that that's part of how people have responded to The Tiger Rising. It's what I call my dark child. It's gotten sandwiched in between two overachieving, tap-dance-performing kids - Winn-Dixie and Despereaux. — Kate DiCamillo

Nothing new ever happens in the books. It's the same old theme. — Kate DiCamillo

You are down there alone, the stars seemed to say to him. And we are up here, in our constellations, together. — Kate DiCamillo

Rats have a sense of humor. Rats, in fact think the world is very funny. And they are right, dear reader. They are right. — Kate DiCamillo

Things are not at all what they seem to be: oh no, not at all. — Kate DiCamillo

I show up and try, but I may have to ask myself if I need to wait and let myself regenerate and take a break. I know that this thing that makes the stories has to be treated gently. So sometimes I'll just stop and let the well fill up. With my work, sometimes I hate doing it, but I love having done it. The key is to keep doing it. — Kate DiCamillo

The closest I can get to describing what happens is that voices come to me. I feel like I'm accessing something that is deeper and richer than me. — Kate DiCamillo

When I was a kid I loved to read, but I didn't write and I didn't create imaginary worlds. So, if one student walks away thinking, "She's obviously just an ordinary person, yet she gets to make her living doing what she wants to do. Maybe that applies to me, too," then I feel like my time has been well spent. — Kate DiCamillo

Love is ridiculous. But love is also wonderful. And powerful. And Despereaux's love for the Princess Pea would prove, in time, to be all of these things: powerful, wonderful, and ridiculous. — Kate DiCamillo

I like to think of myself as a storyteller. — Kate DiCamillo

I'm at the mercy of whatever character comes into my head. — Kate DiCamillo

Rob Horton, the main character of The Tiger Rising, was a secondary character in an adult short story I wrote, and he wouldn't go away after I'd finished the short story. I couldn't figure out what he wanted, so I wrote to find out. — Kate DiCamillo

Mercy Watson is pure fun for me as a writer, because I think of her as kind of sorbet - a palate cleanser - between larger works. It's always a relief to come back to her. — Kate DiCamillo

She was working to remind herself of who she was. She was working to remember that somewhere in another place entirely she was known and loved. — Kate DiCamillo

This is the great thing about writing for kids. Adults might not do anything if they recognized me. But if they do see me, and they're with a kid, they'll tell the kid who I am. They think they should give that to the kid. So generally that sends the kid over. — Kate DiCamillo

Mercy Watson is obsessed with toast. What was blocking me was the challenge of trying to understand what she loves, what motivates her. That was the missing piece. Toast became the physical symbol of Mercy's hopefully endearing greed and obsession. Without that element in place, it didn't make sense. — Kate DiCamillo

Miracles and magic pervade the things that I've written, but yet there are no miracles and there is no magic. — Kate DiCamillo

The only control you have over a movie is whether or not you decide to sell the rights. — Kate DiCamillo

I love adventurous travel. I also love pancakes, and making pancakes for other people. You would definitely find me in the airy treetop as opposed to below ground. — Kate DiCamillo

All of that loneliness and longing in my heart got transferred into the book Because of Winn-Dixie, I guess. — Kate DiCamillo

This is a wonderful joke to play upon a prisoner, to promise forgiveness. — Kate DiCamillo

Say it, reader. Say the word 'quest' out loud. It is an extraordinary word, isn't it? So small and yet so full of wonder, so full of hope. — Kate DiCamillo

I feel like I've been blessed. I see the world through stories. — Kate DiCamillo

Mr. and Mrs. Mr. and Mrs. Watson love Mercy [Watson]. Eugenia hates Mercy. Baby likes Mercy. Mercy loves toast. And the plot, if you want to be so generous as to call it a plot, turns on those elements. love Mercy. Eugenia hates Mercy. Baby likes Mercy. Mercy loves toast. And the plot, if you want to be so generous as to call it a plot, turns on those elements. — Kate DiCamillo

My favorite six letter word is always because it promises so much. My favorite five letter word is never because it insists on contradicting the promise. My favorite four letter word is once because it says it happened then. My favorite three letter word is yes because I’m just now learning to say it to my heart. My favorite two letter word is if because it makes all things possible like this: If not always If not never Then once. Yes. — Kate DiCamillo

The origin of each story is unique. — Kate DiCamillo

I read whatever the publisher sends me. — Kate DiCamillo

Anybody who puts a book into someone else's hands inspires me - teachers, librarians, booksellers, parents. — Kate DiCamillo

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. — Kate DiCamillo

That is surely the truth, at least for now. But perhaps you have not noticed: the truth is forever changing. — Kate DiCamillo

Reader, you may ask this queston. In fact, you must ask this question. Is it ridiculous for a very small, sickly, big-eared mouse to fall in love with a beautiful princess named Pea? The answer is... Yes. Of course it's ridiculous. Love is ridiculous. But love is also wonderful. And powerful. — Kate DiCamillo

... every time you look at the world and the people in it closely, lovingly, imaginatively, it changes you. The world, under the microscope of your attention, opens up like a beautiful, strange flower and gives itself back to you in ways you could never imagine. — Kate DiCamillo

Every morning for, I don't know how long, I came over to Alison's [McGhee] house and we sat in her office and wrote the stories "out loud" together. We yelled at each other and made each other laugh. It was a lot of fun. — Kate DiCamillo

He was reading from the beginning so that he could get to the end, where the reader was assured that the knight and the fair maiden lived together happily ever after. — Kate DiCamillo

Holly McGhee said I should come to dinner with them. That first dinner, I said something pretty smart-alecky, and Alison [McGhee] laughed really hard at it. It made me happy. — Kate DiCamillo

There are so many difficult things and stories can make them palatable. That's the way I have always felt. — Kate DiCamillo

We [me and Alison McGhee] probably wouldn't have said that when we were writing the stories, but it is so apparent to me in the finished product. For me, looking at Bink, it's like looking at myself on the page in a way that I've never experienced with any other book that I've written. — Kate DiCamillo

To me the book is like having a kid. I have to let it go out in the world, and great things will happen. Maybe they won't, but it has to keep on moving. — Kate DiCamillo

If there is anything that I think I might use later, I underline it. — Kate DiCamillo

I am just always, always paying attention - waiting for the words, or image, or name that will be the beginning of a story. — Kate DiCamillo

I remember wanting to write a book with someone, the someone being Kate [DiCamillo], and we decided to write about two friends. We had no idea how to begin this project - neither of us had ever collaborated with another writer - and I'm pretty sure that we began by giving our two friends a sock, just to see what they'd do with it. And it went from there. — Kate DiCamillo

When we read together, we connect. Together, we see the world. Together, we see one another. — Kate DiCamillo

Everything, as you well know . . . cannot always be sweetness and light. — Kate DiCamillo

Magic is always impossible.... It begins with the impossible and ends with the impossible and is impossible in between. That is why it's magic. — Kate DiCamillo

There is no right or wrong way to tell a story. You have to find your own way. You can get your idea from listening, looking, or imagining. Stories are everywhere. All you have to do is pay attention. — Kate DiCamillo

I didn't start working on children's books until I got a job at a book warehouse on the children's floor. When I started reading some of the books, I was so impressed. — Kate DiCamillo

You are the ever-expanding universe to me — Kate DiCamillo

[He] had the soul of a poet, and because of this, he liked very much to consider questions that had no answers. — Kate DiCamillo

[A businessmen in plane after 9\11] asked me, "What are you working on now?" And I said I was writing a story about a mouse who tries to save a princess. I was mortified. Here the world is falling down around us, and I'm trying to tell the story about a mouse who saves a princess. I said "It doesn't matter at all now." — Kate DiCamillo

Longing is not always a reciprocal thing. — Kate DiCamillo

Mercy Watson was a character that had been in my head for a long time. — Kate DiCamillo

Men and boys always want to go fight. They are always looking for a reason to go to war. It is the saddest thing. They have this abiding notion that war is fun. And no history lesson will convince them differently. — Kate DiCamillo

Once there was a princess who was very beautiful. She shone bright as the stars on a moonless night. But what difference did it make that she was beautiful? None. No difference." Why did it make no difference?" asked Abilene. Because," said Pellegrina, "She was a princess who loved no one and cared nothing for love, even though there were many who loved her. — Kate DiCamillo

If memory serves me correctly, and it doesn't always, Kate [DiCamillo] and I met in the fall of 2001 at the former Figlio's restaurant in Minneapolis. We were laughing within a minute of meeting - always a good sign. — Kate DiCamillo

Life Lessons by Kate DiCamillo

1. Kate DiCamillo teaches us to be brave and never give up, no matter how difficult the situation may be. She also encourages us to be kind and generous to those around us, and to always seek out the good in the world. Lastly, she reminds us that friendship and loyalty are invaluable, and that it’s important to show compassion and understanding to those in need.