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 Read Quote
I was about 28-29 when I wrote my first story, and that was called ‘The Garden of Abdul Gasazi.’ Chris Van Allsburg Read Quote
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. Chris Van Allsburg Read Quote
Authors of books are not given very much control over the films that are made from their books. Chris Van Allsburg Read Quote
It was the case for a number of years that I was doing a book a year, but that was back when I was part-time teaching – and since 1991, I’ve been a parent, so that cuts into the time! Chris Van Allsburg Read Quote
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 Read Quote
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. Chris Van Allsburg Read Quote
The general effect of viewing ‘Jumanji’ is thrilling. I was able to see on film a thing that at one point had only existed in my imagination. I got to see the images from my book come alive. Chris Van Allsburg Read Quote
