Anne Fine wants to encourage all children to read. She believes this is more important than ever in the modern world where we are bombarded with electronic media and entertainment.
'Now that youngsters are surrounded by screens of all sorts, they need to be able to interact with the real world around them. Everything happens too fast [on screen] and children develop a high tolerance for images, but this reduces their natural curiosity. Books demand more effort, but it is really worth it,' Fine says.
She should know. Fine is the author of more than 40 books - mostly for young readers - that have won numerous awards including the prestigious Carnegie medal and the Whitbread Children's Novel Award. While she is not a great fan of prizes, she appreciates that they are a way of recognising quality writing.
'Nowadays publishers often only accept work that will be commercially successful. And that is not always the best.'
Fine, who is now a grandmother, recently spent two years as children's laureate in Britain and enjoyed promoting greater access to literature, especially among visually-impaired young people. She also helped co-ordinate three poetry collections.
Her latest book Frozen Billy, which was published last month, is the first set in the past. 'I chose the late Victorian world of the music hall. It is a rather spooky story about two children, Clarrie and Will, and their uncle who is a brilliant ventriloquist.'
Clarrie and Will come up with a clever scheme to enhance their uncle's fame with some unexpected consequences.