I am an author. But before I wrote books, I read them. My parents claim I made them read aloud the front matter — the publisher’s address, the Library of Congress data. In elementary school, I added ISBN numbers to the stories I wrote. Those numbers conveyed legitimacy, even if...

Here's an interesting game: name one children's adventure story — just one — in which the mother is present.A short list of things that wouldn't make the cut includes The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, A Series of Unfortunate Events, Madeline, The Secret Garden, "Cinderella," Eragon, the Bartimaeus trilogy, My Father's...