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" People have asked me a lot, 'What comes first? The pictures or the story? The story or the picture?' It's hard to describe because often they seem to come at the same time. I'm seeing images while I'm thinking of the story. "

Chris Van Allsburg

People

Picture

Story

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

" Brainstorming, for me, takes place in my bed at night between the time I turn out my lights and I finally fall asleep. It is not a very violent storm, but what's happening is I am just thinking about different ideas and maybe things I've seen that day that I think might make a good story. "

" I'm not a perfectionist. I'm just very observant. "

" 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. "

" 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. "

" My stories are often a little mysterious. "

" 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. "

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

" 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. "

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

" 'The Polar Express' began with the idea of a train standing alone in the woods. I asked myself, 'What if a boy gets on that train? Where does he go?' "

Chris Van Allsburg

Boy

Myself

" 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. "

" 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. "

" 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. "

" I don't like to travel. Yet all my books seem to involve a journey. "

Chris Van Allsburg

Travel

Seem

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

" There's definitely a value in being literate. "

" 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. "

" Following my muse has worked out pretty well so far. I can't see any reason to change the formula now. "

" I think most people agree there is a component of skill in art making; you have to learn grammar before you learn how to write. "

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

Chris Van Allsburg

Ordinary

Context

" 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. "

" The whole idea of being mesmerized and not in control of your own actions is fascinating and a little spooky. I remember hearing about someone who'd gone to a magic act, and a person in the audience had become hypnotized by observing too closely what magician was doing on stage, and thought it was spooky to lose your consciousness that way. "

" Your house is all about routine, not the unexpected events of your life. "