A biography for K. A. Applegatehasn’t been written yet.
“I grew up with a menagerie of dogs, cats, gerbils - not to mention three younger siblings.”
“I really love writing, but I am very easily distracted: my two cats fighting, a rainbow, a TV show... I have to use every trick to keep myself at the computer.”
“I love any excuse to come to New York - when it's not February.”
“I've got to believe I'm the first person to win the Newbery who has written a Harlequin romance!”
“That penetrating gaze, that intelligence; it's hard not to be anthropomorphic when you're looking at a great ape - at any primate - but especially with gorillas. They're just so magnificent.”
“I tend to write short, brief snippets - I lean toward the chamber music end as opposed to the symphony end of things.”
“When we have financial struggles, kids are so much more aware of things than we want them to be.”
“We know about the socially complex lives of elephants: how they communicate, how they bond, how they even seem to grieve. We have ethologists in the field and activists on the ground to thank for that knowledge.”
“I hate to witness animals in captivity - or see circus elephants paraded down the streets. When animals are caged, it's a loss of what they are.”
“At the end of the day, I'd love to see children stop begging their parents to go to the circus. That's what would make me most happy.”
“It occurred to me that a food drive would be a natural way to talk to kids about hunger, which so many of them simply aren't aware of.”