Chris Van Allsburg Quotes

The opportunity to create a small world between two pieces of cardboard, where time exists yet stands still, where people talk and I tell them what to say, is exciting and rewarding.

I write for what`s left of the eight-year-old still rattling around inside my head.

Santa is our culture`s only mythic figure truly believed in by a large percentage of the population. It`s a fact that most of the true believers are under eight years old, and that`s a pity.

Following my muse has worked out pretty well so far. I can`t see any reason to change the formula now.

At first, I see pictures of a story in my mind. Then creating the story comes from asking questions of myself. I guess you might call it the `what if - what then` approach to writing and illustration.

As much as I`d like to meet the tooth fairy on an evening walk, I don`t really believe it can happen.

Some artists claim praise is irrelevant in measuring the success of art, but I think it`s quite relevant. Besides, it makes me feel great.

The idea of the extraordinary happening in the context of the ordinary is what`s fascinating to me.

The Polar Express is about faith, and the power of imagination to sustain faith. It`s also about the desire to reside in a world where magic can happen, the kind of world we all believed in as children, but one that disappears as we grow older.

There was a great deal of peer recognition to be gained in elementary school by being able to draw well. One girl could draw horses so well, she was looked upon as a kind of sorceress.

The Dick, Jane, and Spot primers have gone to that bookshelf in the sky. I have, in some ways, a tender feeling toward them, so I think it`s for the best.