Van Allsburg Books Quotes & Sayings

It did occur to me that certainly African-Americans are not underserved in picture books, but those books are almost all about specifically black experiences. — Chris Van Allsburg

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. — Chris Van Allsburg

The question "what if" is not as constructive as "what now? — Alyce Wilson

I think chemistry is finding something you love about a person and then transfering it to an in love kind of thing. — Drew Barrymore

It doesn't matter what you think! — Dwayne Johnson

I'm not surprised that my books appeal to adults. — Chris Van Allsburg

I don't want to sound like some grumpy old man telling you to get off my lawn. — Michael Wilbon

Our stories may not always be pleasant as they're being lived. They can in fact be just the opposite, acquiring a warm hue only in retrospect. "I think this boils down to a philosophical question rather than a psychological one," Tom Gilovich, a professor of psychology at Cornell, tells me. "Should you value moment-to-moment happiness more than retrospective evaluations of your life?" He says he has no answer for this, but the example he offers suggests a bias. — Jennifer Senior

A photograph it a souvenir of a memory.
It is not a moment.
It is the looking at the photograph that becomes the moment. Your own moment. — David Levithan

Telling the truth is a pretty hard thing. And in a young man's first attempt, with the distortions of his vanity, egotism, hot passion, and lacerated pride, it is almost impossible. "Home to Our Mountains" was marred by all these faults and imperfections ... [Webber] did know that it was not altogether a true book. Still, there was truth in it.
...
[from Randy] There were places where [your book] rubbed salt in. In saying this, I'm not like those others you complain about: you know damn well I understand what you did and why you had to do it. But just the same, there were some things that you did not have to do
and you'd have had a better book if you hadn't done them. — Thomas Wolfe

Authors of books are not given very much control over the films that are made from their books. — Chris Van Allsburg

If I was feeling like a challenge, I'd kick out the plug, turn the taps on and see if I could maintain the exact water level. It was a bit like balancing the clutch in an old Mini Metro. Although tricky at first, by the time I checked out I could find the bath's biting point within three minutes. Satisfying? Just bit. — Alan Partridge

I am never really surprised at the way my books take shape. They are just not as perfect as I'd like them to be. — Chris Van Allsburg

I don't like to travel. Yet all my books seem to involve a journey. — Chris Van Allsburg

I try to satisfy the desires that people have to have their books personalized. That's a value, or feature, of bibliophilia that may vanish. How do you get your e-book signed? The idea of people standing in line to get my signature in their book, it's hard to turn them away. — Chris Van Allsburg

What kids are exposed to on television is more frightening and horrifying than what they see in my books. — Chris Van Allsburg

I don't like to get scared - it's not one of the emotions I enjoy. So I have to assume that if there are scary things in my books, they aren't very scary. — Chris Van Allsburg

I know you think you're a punk," Declan said. "But you aren't nearly as bad ass as you think you are."
"Oh, go to hell," Ronan snapped, just as the alter boys broached the rear doors.
"Guys," Matthew pleaded. "Be holy. — Maggie Stiefvater

No time ago
or else a life
walking in the dark
i met christ
jesus)my heart
flopped over
and lay still
while he passed(as
close as i'm to you
yes closer
made of nothing
except loneliness. — E. E. Cummings

Book lovers love books!" her mother announced. "There's romance about the books- even having them seems to have a kind of excitement."
from Mr. Linden's Library by Walter Dean Myers — Chris Van Allsburg

The world we have created is a product of our thinking; it cannot be changed without changing our thinking. If we want to change the world we have to change our thinking ... no problem can be solved from the same consciousness that created it. We must learn to see the world anew. — Albert Einstein