Part I. Rememory -- Introduction / Gregory Maguire -- Ah, sweet rememory! / Virginia Hamilton -- Bones in the sand / Penelope Lively -- Sounds in the heart / Katherine Paterson -- A writer's journey / Eleanor Cameron -- On imagination / Joan Aiken -- Travel notes / Lloyd Alexander -- Through the dark wood / Nina Bawden -- Nahum Tarune's book / Susan Cooper -- Part II. Mythic patterns -- Introduction / Paul Heins -- The burden of the past / Peter Dickinson -- The universe and old MacDonald / Betty Levin -- Achilles in Altjira / Alan Garner -- Mythic journeys / Paul Heins -- The life journey / John Rowe Townsend -- Fantasy and the classic hero / Natalie Babbitt -- Disturbing the universe / Jill Paton Walsh -- Part III. Fantasy: the perilous realm -- Introduction / Betty Levin -- "A hair's breadth aside" / Jane Langton -- The purposes of fantasy / Natalie Babbitt -- Another world? a sampling of remarks on science fiction and fantasy: World building / Laurence Yep, The story of the Golem / Jan Mark, Traveling the road to Ithaca / Jane Yolen, Alternate worlds / Zilpha Keatley Snyder -- The face of a spider / H.M. Hoover -- The perilous realms: a colloquy / Betty Levin, ed. -- Part IV. Realism: more perilous realms -- Introduction / Gregory Maguire -- Do I dare disturb the universe? / Madeleine L'Engle -- Where is Terabithia / Katherine Paterson -- "A rattlin' good story" / Robert Cormier -- The third eye / Mollie Hunter -- One human heart / Paula Fox, Cathie Mercier -- On censorship / Alice Childress -- Only a lamp-holder: on writing historical fiction / Katherine Paterson, Ann Schlee, Jill Paton Walsh, Erik Christian Haugaard -- "Howl like wolves" / Barbara Harrison -- Truth, the child, and literature / Erik Christian Haugaard -- Part V. Motion and rest: the art of illustration -- Introduction / Ethel Heins -- Early friendships / Dorothy Butler -- Picture books as literature / Sonia Landes -- How I found The treasure / Uri Shulevitz -- Bothering to look / Robert McCloskey, Ethel Heins -- A strange balance of joy and pain / Tom Feelings -- Me and Blake, Blake and me / Ellen Raskin -- The lotus blossom--or whodunit? / Marcia Brown -- Enamored of the mystery / Maurice Sendak -- With a jeweler's eye: on creating picture books / Charles Mikolaycak, Eve Rice, Rosemary Wells -- From our correspondent in Utopia / Fritz Eichenberg -- Part VI. The primacy of poetry -- Introduction / Barbara Harrison -- Bilingual children / Norma Farber -- A Mother Goose portfolio: little King Pippin / Arnold Lobel, Tom Tom the piper's son / Marcia Sewall, Bobby Shaftoe / Ashley Bryan, Robin and Bobbin / David Macaulay, Simple Simon and the pieman / Uri Shulevitz, Little Miss Muffet / Erik Blegvad, Two lovers / Marcia Brown, Peter Peter Pumpking Eater / Chris Van Allsburg, Nothin-at-all / Blair Lent, Saint Dunstan and the devil / Fritz Eichenberg, Doctor Fell / Trina Schart Hyman, Old Mother Hubbard and her dog / Nancy Elkholm Burkert -- "Sing together children" / Ashley Bryan -- The dream voyage / Gregory Maguire -- The watcher / Nancy Willard -- The oral tradition: alive, alive-oh / John Langstaff -- Part VII. A myriad eyes -- Introduction / Barbara Harrison -- A myriad eyes: the many perspectives: On being a parent / Frances V. Sedney, On writing poetry / David McCord, On being published / Ouida Sebestyen, On telling stories / Eileen Colwell, On teaching / Joan M. Tieman, On studying / Therese Bigelow, On not teaching creative writing / Nancy Bond, On literary criticism / Paul Heins, On editing / Jean Karl, On publishing / Margaret K. McElderry, On awards and prizes / Ginny Moore Kruse, On being a librarian / Caroline Ward -- Journeying / Jean Fritz -- Between a peach and the universe / E.L. Konigsburg -- What happened to the "all-white" world of children's books? / Rudine Sims -- A Chinese sense of reality / Lawrence Yep -- A common humanity / Milton Meltzer -- And the whole earth was of one language / Marianne Carus -- For and against rubbish / Ethel Heins, Carolyn W. Field, Frances V. Sedney -- The impact of controversy on popularity / Isabelle Holland -- "Go, and catch a falling star": what is a good children's book? / Ethel Heins.