A Shanster called MORGAN was pleased to spot some of my books in their local library, and took a couple of photos to share with me. Coolio!!!

I've been very lucky to enjoy great support from librarians all around the world over the years. When my agent was struggling to sell Cirque Du Freak back in 1997, one of the reasons given by some of the editors at the various publishing houses was that they feared librarians would rise up in arms against the book, since it was so much darker than any other books released for that age demographic. They thought there would be a media storm, with library staff speaking out loudly against the book, and they didn't want to get caught in the middle of such a messy situation. Of course, good librarians know much more about children's books than publishers or editors or, indeed, writers -- I've always been astonished by how knowledgable and well-read they are, and have learnt so much from them. They saw the merits in Cirque Du Freak straight away, and played a big part in its gradual rise into the public consciousness. I love that they're still out there, doing their best to connect my work with readers, even a quarter of a century down the road.