Mac Barnett Quotes & Sayings

Every Librarian is a highly trained agent. An expert in intelligence, counterintelligence, Boolean searching, and hand-to-hand combat. — Mac Barnett

It's a sort of patronizing idea that literature for children has to feature role models of exemplary behavior. I think not only is that bogus, but it leads to really boring books. — Mac Barnett

I read The Stinky Cheese Man as an adult. I missed that book when I was a kid. I grew up mostly with books bought at yard sales, picture books from the fifties to 1975, which is really a lucky thing. — Mac Barnett

I'm not sure we're presenting ourselves as real role models. I don't think literature has ever been a real place for role models. — Mac Barnett

Danger is the snack food of a true sleuth. — Mac Barnett

Dear Mom,
I won't be home this weekend because I'm wanted for treason and I have to clear my name. Also, I took the last Sprite from the fridge.
Love, Steve — Mac Barnett

Too often we tell kids pleasant stories devoid of truth, and stories without truth are not good stories. Our audience deserves more from us. — Mac Barnett

Not only is a good prank harmless, but, like a good story, it reveals an essential truth that would otherwise be hidden. — Mac Barnett

I love those adult writers with the pranking ethos, [Don] DeLillo and [Donald] Barthelme and David Foster Wallace. I don't see any reason not to bring those kinds of influences to bear on books for children. — Mac Barnett

This was so unfunny, Steve had to laugh. — Mac Barnett

He checked out his surrounding. More books. A drinking fountain. A poster showing a guy slam-dunking a basketball with one hand and holding a book in the other, urging kids to READ! Weird, thought Steve. How can he even see the hoop?
...
You see, Steven, Librarians are the most elite, best trained secret force in the United States of America. Probably in the world."
"No way."
"Yes way."
"What about the FBI?"
"Featherweights."
"The CIA?"
Mackintosh snorted. "Don't make me laugh. Those guys can't even dunk a basketball andd read a book at the same time. — Mac Barnett

Pranking is a great way to indicate the underlying absurdities of the world. — Mac Barnett

I'd much rather have a book that a few people love intensely than a book that a lot of people like okay. — Mac Barnett

A clue! From M!"
"Who's M?"
"Maybe M is for Mackintosh! Maybe Grabes ans Mackintosh are in cahoots!"
"Or maybe M is for Mom. Also, who says 'cahoots'? — Mac Barnett

I think the trick of writing a good picture book manuscript is to leave that space for illustration. An illustrated novel can do the same thing. — Mac Barnett

Pranking exposes the truth that underneath this appearance of order is joy, laughter, and disorder. — Mac Barnett

Kevin Cornell and I have worked together a bunch. — Mac Barnett

We put authors on such a pedestal, and it's a moment that humanizes the whole thing, and lends an absurdity to what otherwise is a "please sit with your hands on your lap" kind of event. — Mac Barnett

Dana was what Steve called a "silent partner" in the Brixton Brothers Detective Agency. Being a silent partner meant that Dana didn't carry a business card, that his name didn't appear on the company letterhead, and he wanted nothing to do with the Brixton Brothers Detective Agency. — Mac Barnett