Jerry Hall is right to say that dyslexia does not have to be a problem, it is a gift. Like Hall and her three children with Mick Jagger, I am dyslexic, as are all my children. It is one of the gifts you pass on.

Society treats dyslexia as a problem. There is always this idea that we can "cure" it, with vitamins or pink glasses or special lessons. I did not learn to read until I was 14. It was in the dark ages then. I was asked to leave many schools - they said I had a head like a sieve and any information put into it would fall out, and I was told I could only do jobs where I would not need reading and writing. I went into publishing thinking I could do illustrating because I liked drawing, but everyone said, "You're a storyteller!" I told them about my dyslexia, and they said, "We don't see it as a problem." That, to me, was revolutionary. So I started writing children's books 10 years ago. And, finally, I found what I really loved.

My spelling and my grammar are enough to send a strong man to drink, of course. I always think: why can't we spell words the way we want to? Like Chaucer and Shakespeare? But recently I discovered an electronic dictionary with a spellcheck.

I have a sort of cinema in my head. When I think of something, I see it completely visually and I can wander around in it. I thought everybody did this. I think dyslexia makes you love words. People always say, "Oh, I love books, I love words ... " But I see it from a different angle. People who can read fluently never look at the words; they cannot see the beauty in them.