Writing a story is like going down a path in the woods. You follow the path. You don't worry about getting lost. You just go.

The books take a year just to do the drawing. I will travel to a country to do the research and get ideas. Sometimes I don't travel to do research, but mostly I do. It takes a long time, but do I ever get tired of it? Not really. The characters kind of grow and evolve.

I like to pretend that each book is my first one and last one, because it takes a tremendous amount of energy to do a book.

I loved being a child. If I do have a talent, it's not so much being an artist, but it's being able to remember back to that time.

I create books for six-year-olds. I don't know why that time of my life was so important to me, but no matter what I draw, it always looks like it comes from a children's book. I can't resist. I'll set out to paint a serious picture then think, "Well, maybe there would be a little bunny in that corner."

I just love to draw. It's very intense for me. The day will just go by like the snap of a finger. A lot of times I'll draw or paint late into the night. When I am really concentrating, I kind of lose track of what I am doing.

Writing a story is like going down a path in the woods. You follow the path. You don't worry about getting lost. You just go.