Jill Paton Walsh

“It’s just that we wear rose-coloured spectacles when we return here [to Oxford] – we are dazzled by the foolish idealism of…

— Jill Paton Walsh

There is nothing more important than writing well for the young, if literature is to have a continuance ... They will inherit…

— Jill Paton Walsh

“allowed themselves to reinhabit themselves”

— Jill Paton Walsh

If you tell someone a secret, and ask them to keep it secret, you are asking them to display a discretion you…

— Jill Paton Walsh

“Granted, a man may smile and smile and be a villain, but it takes nerve.”

— Jill Paton Walsh

“It’s the Queen’s English now,’ observed Peter mildly. ‘Is there a difference?’ asked Oundle rhetorically. ‘I fervently hope not.’ ‘There will be…

— Jill Paton Walsh

The protagonist of folktale is always, and intensely, a young person moving through ordeals into adult life. . . . and this…

— Jill Paton Walsh

“[A]fter all, the position of a reader in a book is very like that occupied by angels in the world, when angels…

— Jill Paton Walsh

It is only grown-ups who want children to be children; children themselves always want to be real people.

— Jill Paton Walsh

“Harriet said, "You shouldn't have reminded me to sign that book, Peter." "Why ever not? Have you suddenly become bashful about your…

— Jill Paton Walsh

“Bunter came with me in the role of a friend. A role he has always played to perfection." "It does not require…

— Jill Paton Walsh