James Howe
Humor is the most precious gift I can give to my reader, a reminder that the world is not such a terribly serious place. There is more than video games and drugs and nuclear threats; there is laughter, and there is hope.Collection: Humor
Words played an important part in my growing up. Not only the written word... but words that flew through the air: jokes, riddles, puns.
My family was always playing with words. It is little wonder that even after I got serious about writing, I've had a hard time getting serious about words.
I can no more separate my serious concerns about the world from my cockeyed way of seeing it than I can keep apart my personal and professional selves.
I became an author because I love words. I enjoyed playing with them when I was a kid, writing stories and plays, and doing whatever I could think to do with words. I kept my love of them growing up and still love to see what they can do.
I like to read fiction, and I particularly enjoy reading young adult fiction. But I also read children's books, adult books, current authors, and classics, but I like fiction the most.
I was lucky in getting my first book published; my first book was 'Bunnicula,' which I wrote with my late wife Debbie, for the fun of it.
When I'm with other people who inspire my silliness or sense of humor, I'm funny. When I sit down to write, it's hard not to be funny.
Life is short and there will always be dirty dishes, so let's dance.Collection: Dance
This business of really knowing people, deep down, including your own self, it is not something you can learn in school or from a book. It takes your whole being to do it—your eyes and your ears, your brain and your heart. Maybe your heart most of all. —Bobby GoodspeedCollection: Book
Sticks and stones may break our bones, but names will break our spirit.Collection: Names
I am about to stop being a get-along kind of guy and turn into somebody who makes a difference.Collection: Differences
The way I look at it, love does not necessarily make for a happy ending any more than winning does. What makes for a happy ending is what Addie said all along: freedom. The freedom to be who you are without anybody calling you names. —Bobby GoodspeedCollection: Winning
Sometimes kids just act impulsively, but it's because we have strong feelings, not because we're trying to make trouble.Collection: Strong
There's no such thing as a wasted wish.Collection: Wish
Another thing I think about names is that they DO hurt. They hurt because we believe them. We think they are telling us something true about ourselves, something other people can see even if we don't. —Bobby GoodspeedCollection: Hurt
Sometimes I wish I were a character in a book and there was a writer out there giving me things to say.Collection: Book
When you're living through it, though, especially when you are twelve and you think the whole world is changing until you realize it isn't the world, it's you, no piece seems little. It's all so big you think it can kill you. But it doesn't. Which is why the story goes on.Collection: Thinking
So does being cool mean you get to go around calling other people names?Collection: Mean
Dear Skeezie, Today I ran after a boy as he was trying to get away. I tackled him and we both landed in the mud. Do you think I appeared desperate?-Joe BunchCollection: Boys
The future is a trickster rabbit, full of surprises. Only the past is predictable. -Bobby GoodspeedCollection: Past
Banning books is just another form of bullying. It's all about fear and an assumption of power. The key is to address the fear and deny the power.Collection: Bullying
Another Thing I'm Sick of Hearing: If I started that gay rights group, I must be gay. So if i start an animal rights group, what does that make me? A giraffe?Collection: Gay
[Button] If Gay and Lesbian people are given civil rights, soon everyone will want themCollection: Gay
I hated that the soldier doll had my name. I mean, please. I didn't play with him much. He was another Christmas present from my clueless grandparents. One time when they were visiting, my grandpa asked me if G.I. Joe had been in any wars lately. I said, "No, but he and Ken got married last week." Every Christmas since then, my grandparents have sent me a check.Collection: War
I never thought I could write this much and now that it's coming to an end, I feel sad that I have to stop, sort of the way you feel at the end of a really good book and you know you're going to miss the main character. But in this case, the main character is me! Myself. Joe (formerly JoDan) Bunch. —Joe BunchCollection: Book
Crying can help, too. People are often afraid to cry because they are told that crying is for babies. Crying does not make you a baby, no matter what anyone says. There are times when people feel so bad that they can't express their feelings in words. At those times, crying helps.Collection: Baby
And that's an even greater love: to love somebody when he's a little...worn at the edges. —Teddy BearCollection: Littles
The point is that something I thought was perfect has been broken, and I'm having to find the beauty in what is there instead of what I thought was there. Like this shell. I can either spend all my time wishing it were perfect, trying to imagine it the way it was or might have been, or I can see how beautiful it is just like this.Collection: Beautiful
We all start out thinking that there is such a thing as perfection and that there's something wrong with us if we settle for less. First we won't eat the food with the brown spots. Then we hate ourselves because we have our own brown spots—pimples or ears that are too big or legs that are too skinny.Collection: Hate
A day can start out ordinary and end up being in the top ten. —Joe BunchCollection: Ordinary
So, this is a rabbit, I thought. He sort of looks like Chester, only he's got longer ears and a shorter tail. And a motor in his nose.Collection: Rabbits