I became a set designer for opera. I'm a great opera buff, I love classical music, and I needed a time-out.

There are certain pieces of music that are always attached to certain books.

I mean, being a child was being a child, was being a creature without power, without pocket money, without escape routes of any kind. So I didn't want to be a child.

What I do as best I can is out of a deep respect for children, for how difficult their world is.

To get a child's trust - you may know or not - is a very hard thing to do. They're so used to not believing adults - because adults tell tales and lies all the time.