Top 59 Quotes by Chris Van Allsburg

When somebody says, 'This must be a children's book,' basically they're saying, 'You must be a child.' And so my answer is, 'Well, yes, I guess I am a child.' But I don't think of myself that way.

I sculpted for four or five years. Mostly for my own amusement, I decided to do a picture book, and that was kind of a turning point.

I have very positive memories of reading biographies of unusual Americans as a child.

My ideas are not meant to suggest dreams or reality, but a surreal quality.

As much as I'd like to meet the tooth fairy on an evening walk, I don't really believe it can happen.

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.

It seems to me that not only the writing in most children's books condescends to kids, but so does the art. I don't want to do that.

I'm always a bit disappointed when I've finished working on a book.

A good picture book should have events that are visually arresting - the pictures should call attention to what is happening in the story.

I've heard stories about authors filled with this kind of Lotto-winner hubris. I'm a Dutch boy from the Midwest. We don't have hubris.