I have always had a deep seated reverence for children's literature.  The books that have made the biggest impact on me have always been books for children.  I think writing for children is harder than writing for adults. Perhaps that is the way it should be. Really good children's stories convey complex ideas and themes.  You know you have fully understood a big important idea when you can explain it simply to a child. If you can do that with humour, with a sense of playfulness and joy, then you are a children's writer.

"You have to write the book that wants to be written. And if that book will be too difficult for grown ups, then you write it for children." Madeleine L'Engle